


Fins And Feet

by shiningsparkle



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Smut, Sweet, a tiny bit of angst, merAU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2020-08-14 10:49:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 64,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20191054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiningsparkle/pseuds/shiningsparkle
Summary: This ship and this area was about to become your home for the next few weeks or even months, who knew at this point, and you couldn’t describe how much you were looking forward to it.Your lifelong dream of exploring these uncharted waters, supposedly full of plants and creatures most people only knew about from books or assumed were just a myth, was right at your fingertips.And you couldn't wait to get started.





	1. Uncharted Waters

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> I decided to post this fic on here as well :3
> 
> To everyone who is not following me on tumblr: Welcome to my completely self-indulgent, sweet and sappy Mer!AU fic <3
> 
> I hope you'll like it! :)
> 
> Enjoy <3

The salty smell of seawater filled the air around you and you heard the waves of the ocean splashing against the ship as it moved forward into the open waters. You leaned over the railing on the side of the ship, your eyes sparkling with anticipation while you looked ahead, waiting for your destination to finally appear in your field of view.

And when it finally did your eyes widened and you leaned further over the railing as if you could see even more this way. 

You could see in the distance the shape of the small island appearing, you could almost make out the silhouettes of the rock formations surrounding it. You stared in utter excitement at the still vague shapes and forms. The long journey finally came to an end. 

And yet, it also only just begun.

This ship and this area was about to become your home for the next few weeks or even months, who knew at this point, and you couldn’t describe how much you were looking forward to it. The exploration of these uncharted waters, supposedly full of plants and creatures most people only knew about from books or were just a myth, these beautiful shades of blue and green reflecting the sunlight, the waves broken by the movements from the ship or an occasional fish jumping out of the water.

You couldn’t believe how beautiful just the water was. You could only imagine what kind of fascinating secrets and sceneries it hid way below the surface. 

The ship slowly came to a halt. It has reached the farthest point it could go in these waters without risking running into the rocks spreading underneath the surface. Also getting even closer could potentially disturb the creatures and animals in their natural habitat way too much. You were here to observe and explore and hopefully to learn and that only worked if you left each living being alone as much as possible.

“There we are, girl!”

You turned around when Nico entered the deck, a broad grin on her face and her thick brown hair tied in a ponytail because of the warm weather as she joined you at the railing, looking ahead at your destination which took you days to reach.

“I can take the boat, right?” you asked to make sure once again. Nico nodded.

“As I’ve said daily for like weeks now. You take the boat and take a closer look. Once you’re back we can make a plan on how to proceed,” Nico replied, pointing behind her to the back of the ship where the (very) little boat was just waiting for you to launch it. 

It was as if your legs carried you over to it automatically, the excitement of finally exploring these uncharted waters taking over every nerve in your body. So many years you spent at university, studying book after book, all these times you worked at labs and aquariums to learn more about marine biology, to deepen your studies, it was as if this alone right here and now made all the work and effort worth it. The dangers of these waters, the fact that there were probably a lot of creatures in there that could kill you in the blink of an eye, were irrelevant to you. There was a risk involved all the time. But studying, exploring and observing such a location, which has never been investigated before managed to put all the doubts and concerns into the back of your mind.

“You want to do this by yourself? I’d love to see that,” you looked over your shoulder to see Nero with a smug smile on his face walking up to you. You only met Nero right before this trip started. He seemed to be interested more in engineering and technology rather than marine life but he was a friend of Nico’s. Apparently they have been working together for quite a few years already. According to Nico Nero supplied her with mostly all of her samples for her work. But Nero was not here for fun or because he so wanted to. He was here for protection basically. Your eyes fell onto his right arm again for a short moment. He was partly a non-human creature too, a demon supposedly, and his dark colored demonic lower arm was more than enough proof of that. If there was anything in these waters that would be a danger to them he could deal with it.

Nero and Nico helped you launching the boat into the water and Nero and you entered with Nero navigating it. You had your camera in hands and a notebook, although you were certain that this book sooner or later would end up at the bottom of the ocean… 

“Don’t drown on me, girls!” Nico called down to them which resulted in a “tzz” and a dismissing gesture from Nero before they took off.

“You know the deal, right? If I have the slightest feeling we’re about to get fucked I’ll turn back,” Nero reminded you.

“I know,” you replied with a smile. You knew Nero felt bad enough to leave the ship in the first place because it was without protection at this point and his girlfriend was also on board. He just went with you this first time to check out how dangerous this area truly was. Maybe it was safe enough for you to go out with the boat by yourself.

Nero navigated the little boat around the area slowly, giving you time to watch and appreciate the scenery and taking pictures of it and you were so grateful for that. You felt your heart beating fast in your chest as the the rock formations finally were close enough that you could almost touch them if you leaned out of the boat. 

Countless rocks poked out of the ocean’s surface which increased in size the closer you got to the small island. It was difficult navigating through all these tiny tips of brown colored rocks as you didn’t know what they looked like underneath the water’s surface, so Nero went mostly around them. Some of these rocks were rather smooth as if you could lay down on them without a single stone poking your body uncomfortably while the bigger rocks seemed to be a promise of a beautiful formation that only took shape far beneath the surface; creating beautiful caves and crevices that hid so many difficult plants and creatures and animals.

You couldn’t wait for the opportunity to go diving. But that would have to wait until Nico had her tech set up properly.

You chuckled when you saw Nero watching into the water with furrowed brows.

“Relax,” you told him. He directed the same look at you.

“Tzz, you do know how many people have vanished and died here, right?!” it was a statement and not a question and yes, you were aware. These waters were uncharted for a reason but that hasn’t stopped you from wanting to do this. There was nothing more exciting, nothing more that got your heart pumping like crazy, that got your nerves tingling in awe of these beautiful colors of the scenery and the prospect of everything you were going to see and learn in the following weeks.

And this enthusiasm was way stronger than the worries about people having died in this area before.

The island wasn’t very big, the rocks surrounding were much bigger in scale altogether but it still looked nice and you assumed there were still a huge amount of undiscovered living beings on there as well. You could already see a few very colorful birds (you assumed they were birds; they had wings at least). When Nero and you navigated around the island and the ship came into view again you allowed to avert your eyes from your surroundings and let your gaze fall onto the ocean.

You were not that far away from the tiny gravel beach the island seemed to have and the water was really shallow there but after a few meters the clear beautifully light colored water changed into a deep dark blue color. It was as if there was a cliff rather than the depth of the water steadily increasing. You wondered what the island looked like from underwater.

Soon, soon, no need to rush, you told yourself, although it was hard being patient. Now that all you’ve pretty much ever wanted since you started and finished your studies at university was at the tips of your fingers. You just needed to reach out and experience all these new things for yourself.

Nero’s head snapped up, his brows knitted, his hand reached for his weapon as his shoulders tensed. You were startled by his reaction and for the first time since your arrival worry settled over you but when you turned around to look over your shoulder there was nothing there. You let your eyes slide over the water’s surface again but you didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“What is it?” you asked Nero. The young man had his lips pressed into a thin line, but he relaxed a bit after a moment of silence.

“I thought I saw something emerging from the water.”

“Maybe just a fish,” you murmured, though Nero wasn’t convinced and you could tell he was relieved when you got back on the ship.

His girlfriend, Kyrie, was waiting for him and the young man hugged her when she attempted to wrap her arms around him. You found it as fascinating as you thought it was endearing when you noticed his demonic arm starting to faintly glow when it came into contact with the young woman. Kyrie wasn’t here because Nero wanted her to be. He much rather had her back in Fortuna at home, where she was safe, but Nico and her were really good friends and when Nico asked her if she wanted to come along… well, Kyrie didn’t think twice. You remembered that she once said during dinner on your way that ‘Nero would just have to protect me’. In the end though it seems that, despite Nero’s concern for her safety, he was also glad to have her at her side and that he didn’t have to spend weeks away from her.

“Alright, what’s the plan?” you wanted to know from Nico once you all were seated around the small table near the galley of the ship. This was Nico’s ship and her mission and while yes, you invested quite a bit of money into it too to get all the tools you needed this was still Nico’s ship and her lab that made it possible to come here in the first place. You may have so many ideas and things you wanted to do, but you would adjust your own plans to whatever Nico suggested.

“I mean, you do your thing and as long as I get my samples I’m happy,” Nico replied smiling. You laughed. Of course. Nico basically transferred her entire lab onto this ship. She was all about getting samples from so far unknown stuff and on that basis develop new technology or even just helpful things that would help people; those things ranged from just playful tools, not necessary but fun to use, to medical objects like antidotes for very specific toxins by rare species.

“How’s the danger situation, tough guy?” Nico turned his attention to Nero. The man sighed and rubbed his neck with his human hand.

“What do I know? Aren’t you the experts? It seems safe enough for now I guess, but I wouldn’t trust this if I were you,” he replied and shrugged.

You assumed you would just have to see how it went. But the prospect of danger wouldn’t stop you.

“Well, I guess the boy just gave ya a free pass,” Nico grinned at you, “the boat is all yours.”

“Nice!” you commented with a smile on your face and clapped your hands together. You stood up from the table.

“Where’re ya going?”

“Just on the deck,” you answered Nico. It was still early enough to spend a while observing the water at least. You would start spending your hours and days on the little boat tomorrow. But judging by past experiences of watching the ocean’s surface, especially around rocky areas, with enough patience one could already make some amazing discoveries this way.

You took your place at the bow of the ship, which granted you a perfect view of the landscape in front of you. You could see the all these little rocks emerging from the water’s surface, could see the bigger ones that nearly hid part of the island from view, you could see the gentle waves splashing against them. It was such a beautiful sight. How the clear water hit the brown stone, how the splashes reflected the sunlight; it was gorgeous and it was hard to believe that these waters could be so dangerous.

You inhaled the fresh smell of the ocean deep into your lungs as you took photos from a couple of weirdly shaped fish you spotted right beneath the surface. Just a bunch of shadows but clear enough to at least make out their shape and number. A first success!

Your gaze was locked onto the small display of your camera, looking at the pictures you just took, when something caught your eyes; a flash of white in your peripheral vision.

Your head snapped up and your eyes widened in utter disbelief when you saw something poking out from the water. You shook your head, attempting to shake this image from your mind because that looked like a head. A head surrounded by shiny white hair emerging from the water in the near distance, just up to the nose, but definitely a head.

You made a rushed step forward, your hands clenching the railing as you looked at what you were seeing, wondering deep down if you were hallucinating or not but-

Whatever it was that you saw got apparently startled by your rushed movement as it noticed you were watching it because in the blink of an eye that head ducked down and vanished in the depths of the ocean again. You only caught a rather huge fin appearing above the surface just where the head has been, but it vanished within a mere second and the water’s surface returned to the gentle waves only disturbed by the rocks standing in their way.

Your could feel your heartbeat in your throat, pumping way too fast that for a moment you feared it would just burst from your ribcage. Your hands still clenching the railing have gotten sweaty and not because of heat of the sun.

You couldn’t believe what you just saw. You were still considering the possibility of your brain playing tricks on you. That all this excitement was just too much for your mind to handle and it resulted in hallucinations, but the truth was that you were not going crazy. You knew exactly what you just saw. All these years of studying marine life, all these books you’ve read about creatures living in the oceans.

There just weren’t many options to what that thing you just saw could have been.

Only one in fact.

But despite the theoretical knowledge it was still very hard to fathom that you just saw a real and living mermaid with your very own eyes.


	2. Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello together,
> 
> thank you so much for all your lovely feedback so far <3
> 
> I'm glad you like the fic so far!
> 
> I hope you enjoy the new chapter as well! <3

“A mermaid?! Are ya sure???” Nico was positively beaming at you. Of course you had to share your discovery right away with her. And the way you ran into the small hall of the ship in which Nico was working right now. The hall was basically just a huge room with an open tank standing in the middle of it. It was a bit deeper than a normal bathtub and vast enough that some fish could in theory have a happy time in there (which was its purpose. At some point catching some exotic fish to observe their behavior in here closer).   
There was disbelief and astonishment written all over your features that had Nico dropping everything she was working on and just staring at you, waiting for you to tell you the news you apparently had.

You nodded.

“Yes! I can’t believe it myself,” you exclaimed, “but we know they exist! Never thought they’d live here.”

“Sounds almost too good to be true,” Nico laughed, but you knew she didn’t doubt your words at all. Then Nico’s brown eyes began to glisten and that grin on her lips turned broader.

“Ya think you can bring me a sample?”

You raised your eyebrows and crossed your arms in front of your chest.

“What? Want me to go out there and fish?”

Nico chuckled this time, though honestly you weren’t all to sure about if she was simply joking. The woman made a waving hand gesture.

“Nah, but damn, I’d love to get the chance to study them. Ya know, just a few scales of the tail should make me do so many things. Just imagine what these could tell ya about them. If just a bit of human skin can tell us so much about their condition, their DNA, think about what these scales should be able to tell us.”

She was rambling a bit, as she usually did when she got an idea and started voicing her thoughts out loud, but it was a delight listening to her each time. And she was right, of course she was. You barely knew anything about mermaids. Neither about how they lived nor about their genetics or physiology. Everything you knew were basics and the available information was just grazing the surface. You were just as curious as she was, but you could hardly help her this time… You just hoped now that you would see that mermaid (or another) again, so you could at least observe them in nature, how they move, what they do, their social behavior…

The next day couldn’t come fast enough. 

While you did get some proper sleep, you were still so restless and eager to finally start the first proper day of this exploration. Luckily it also was a relatively calm night. There were some strange sounds filling the air around the ship during the night but when you checked the deck there was nothing there at all. But it did confirm your assumption that the island was also full of living creatures you didn’t know. 

Nero was still kinda grumpy when he helped you getting the boat into the water after breakfast. He barely slept at all. The sounds and the fact that they were in such uncharted and dangerous waters kept him up for most of the nights. You did feel sorry for him and just hoped he would get used to such sounds.

“Return right away if you feel something’s off or if something happens, got it?” Nero told you while you grabbed your bag with your materials.

“Got it,” you told him with a smile on your lips, “where’s Nico by the way? I thought she’d be here yelling at me how I should bring her all the samples again?”

Nero chuckled.

“She’s locked herself in the lab right after breakfast. I wouldn’t bet on her coming out anytime soon.”

“Probably not,” you laughed. Nero’s expression got a bit more serious then, which caught your attention. You tilted your head to the side as you waited for him to say something.

“Try to stay within eyeshot, okay? I’m gonna come on deck and have an eye on you in-between but I can’t help you or well, be there fast enough if you’re out of sight.”

You stayed silent for a moment, but then you just nodded, keeping eye-contact with him while doing so. He truly was worried and you appreciated that. You’ve only know him for a short while, he could just let you go on your way no matter the consequences. 

You sighed when you moved the boat closer, enjoying the sun on your face and the salty, fresh smell of the ocean filling your nose. You spotted the shadows of some (normal looking) fish below the surface when you stopped the boat as close to some smaller rocks as you could and filled a close container with seawater for Nico later. You put the closed container into the bag before you couldn’t resist and reached out your hand to touch the brownish stone. It was rather warm to the touch because of the sun and some smaller stones on it were really loose as you noticed. 

You took another container to take some of those stones for Nico later. Luckily you didn’t have to lean far out of the boat in order to reach the rocks. While Nero was concerned that this boat was way too small and unsafe in case you were being attacked, he also had to admit that the size of the boat wouldn’t matter in that case anyway. Whatever supposedly hid in those waters could probably tear a bigger boat apart in moments as well.

Just maybe you should be a bit more concerned for your safety after all…

But in the end this rational part of you was just a weak pulse in the back of your mind. 

The sound of flapping wings made you stop in your movements. A bird landed next to you on a rock, though still in a noticeable distance to you and the boat. A small bird, resembling a dipper, looked at you through three bright yellow eyes. Intelligent yellow eyes that stared intently at you as if they were judging, analyzing what you were doing. The little bird had beautiful blue feathers, the sunlight giving them a bright metallic look, the red stripes on its face and chest emphasizing its unnatural and stunning look.

You slowed the movement of your hands as you put the container back into your bag, all under the scrutinizing gaze of the bird, before you heard a splashing sound behind you, loud and unusual like a fish breaking the water’s surface, but the sound of the fish entering the water again never came. You were cautious when you turned around, no hectic movements, a neutral expression on your face, the presence of the bird still in the back of your mind, but all of this vanished once your eyes met the clearest green eyes you’ve ever seen.

Deep and shiny pools of green, sparkled with hints of a golden brown, broken up by strands of dripping white hair falling into the face that you spotted yesterday.

You didn’t know if it was excitement, the heat of the sun, the adrenaline, or something else entirely that caused your heart to spike, that made your breath caught in your throat and set your nerves ablaze, but whatever the reason was for a moment you were frozen in place, unable to react, unable to think; all you could do was stare. You blinked and stared at this creature peeking out from the water’s surface, that bright white hair, those deep green eyes, the fins at the place where a human had ears and the hint of sharp and striking features, mostly hidden because everything from below his nose was obscured by the ocean.

Those green eyes watched you, observed you until that almost astounded expression faded and left a small frown in its place. 

The moment was broken within an instant.

As if something has startled the merman he ducked back into the water and vanished completely, he dived deep enough that you couldn’t even make out a faint silhouette beneath the surface as you leaned forwards in your boat and tried to spot him again. A chirp, screechy and echoic, made you hastily turn your head around only to spot the strange bird taking off again, stretching its blue glowing wings and flying back towards the island.

You sat back in the boat, a heavy sigh left your lips as you let your hands slide through your hair in an attempt to calm your racing heart.

Those deep green eyes stayed with you in your mind for the rest of your exploration this day.

Nico was beaming when she looked through all the samples you brought her, her eyes wide, her mouth stretching into the broades grin you’ve ever seen on her, her hands being all over the place, investigating the different stones, water and alga samples all at the same time. How she managed to still listen to you and reply and help when you told her about the encounter with the mer creature and the bird was beyond you.

“Sounds to me like a curious fella. You know this as well, we just know too little about ‘em to really tell how they act socially. There are theories and assumptions that they have the same cognitive skills as human but no proof, sooo” 

“I know, I know, samples.”

Nico laughed.

“That’s not what I meant this time, but I certainly wouldn’t mind some.” She winked at you, “until then you could-”

The door to the lab burst open, revealing a confused looking Nero.

“Hey, you two! Your mermaid is back and I don’t know… wants to tell us something?!”

Nico and you were out of the lab in an instant. You ran after Nero and followed him onto the deck and to the bow of the ship, grabbing onto the railing and leaning over it.

There he was again. The same bright white hair, the same green eyes although they were barely recognizable from the distance. The merman has emerged further from the water than before and while his features were hard to make out, the broad shoulders but very lean chest and arms were even more so striking, the wet skin glistening in the burning sun; he almost looked like he was glowing.

But as much as his appearance intrigued you and as much as you would love to see his tail, what really caught your attention were his gestures.

He made waving gestures with his arms that reminded you of someone wordlessly telling someone else to back away. He definitely wanted to tell you something but there was no way to interpret these gestures completely the right way.

“Does he want us to leave?” you looked at Kyrie who joined the three of you on the deck and watched the mer creature out of curious, questioning eyes.

But why, you thought. You were aware these waters were dangerous, you couldn’t possibly know what lurked in these depths, what was he trying to warn you about(if that was even what he was doing)? 

But leaving was out of the question. You just got here. There was so much you wanted to see and explore. 

“Not gonna happen, sorry buddy.” Nico said, voicing your thoughts out loud.

Now that you knew mer creatures lived here and now that you even made contact with one you were hoping and praying you could study them. Maybe you had the chance to get closer to this one again too. Look at and study those deep green eyes, those striking features-

You were almost glad the echoic chirp broke your train of thoughts.

“Oh, is this the bird you talked about?” Nico wanted to know. It was. The same strange looking bird sat on the railing, staring at the group out of those multiple yellow eyes who seemed way too intelligent for just a bird creature. Its blue and red feathers seemed to glow, as if there was an energy inside it that enlightened its body.

“What a pretty bird,” Kyrie said and leaned forward, bracing herself on her knees as she looked at the bird. Nero crossed his arms in front of his chest, the look on his face clearly contemplating whether or not he should pull Kyrie further away from the creature.

Nico reached out in an attempt to touch the bird but pulled her hand back with a “woah” as the creature snapped at her, revealing a beak that parted in three different parts. Nero’s hands were on Kyrie’s shoulder immediately, ready to pull her back if he needed to. But the bird shook its feathers and made a sound that resembled more a “tzz” than anything else. The bird turned around, it almost gave the impression that it was annoyed, and flew away again. You followed it with your eyes but the surprise took over your expression once you witnessed as the little creature landed on the merman’s shoulder. You watched completely intrigued as he stopped his gestures and turned his head to the bird. While you could have come to the conclusion they knew each other after your earlier encounter seeing this now was astounding to say the least. The two creatures seemed to communicate to one another before the merman turned his gaze once more to you, though you couldn’t see his expression, before he turned around. He vanished back into the ocean, but not without allowing you to catch a glimpse of a spinous dorsal fin seemingly starting between his shoulder blades and running along his spine.

You couldn’t suppress the disappointed sigh once the merman and the bird were completely out of sight again.

“Aww, you’ll see him again.” Kyrie told you. You smiled softly, though averted your eyes that you were so blatant about your eagerness. There was so much information, so much room for learning new things about mer creatures. Hell, you already learned a bunch of new things. Gestures that were familiar to humans, communication skills between different species… could they understand you as well? They were supposed to be smart and just as cognitive skilled as humans, so could they learn human speech? Not to mention that this merman was an absolutely beautiful creature. You truly hoped you would have more encounters with him.

“And if not, we’re gonna have to bring out the diver’s suit.” Nico put both hands on your shoulders, squeezing them and her grin was contagious, you couldn’t help but to join in; your shoulders shook slightly from your quiet laughter.


	3. First Contact

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody,
> 
> in this chapter you make proper contact with the merman and his two unusual companions for the first time.
> 
> Thank you so much for all your lovely feedback so far! That truly means a lot to me <3
> 
> I hope you like this new chapter!
> 
> Enjoy! <3

The next opportunity to see the merman came the next day.

You had Nero’s advice of not going behind the island and out of sight from the ship in the back of your head but you couldn’t help yourself. The excitement and the prospect of potentially learning something new and seeing the merman again made any thought of danger disappear.

You navigated the boat carefully through the water, evading the countless rocks surrounding the island and constantly letting your eyes slide over the ocean’s surface. You mostly spotted silhouettes of rocks and some fish and shadows which only hinted at the depths below you. You wondered if you could go diving at some point. Though you would probably need more information about the creatures living in these deep waters, not to mention that you also needed to wait for the test results from the water just in case something-

You halted all your movements, your train of thoughts abandoned as you reached the other side of the island.

There he was again.

Sprawled out on his stomach over a rock sunbathing in the morning sun. He was a beautiful creature and you stared mesmerized and in awe at him, your heart starting to beat faster in your chest and for a moment you only looked at him, lips parted, eyes widened. He had his eyes closed and he didn’t notice you yet over the noise of the water and breeze, and you were so grateful that you had a moment to fully look at the merman. His white damp hair fell into his face and covered most of his features, but you could tell he was relaxed. There was no tension in his expression or in the way he layed over the rock with his arms folded under his head.  
His skin was pale, the remains of the water on his skin sparkled in the sun and the spinous dorsal fin, of which you only caught a hint earlier, idly moved as if it had a life of its own and enjoyed the heat of the sun. And then there was his tail. The beautiful appendage sparkling in all shades of pale turquoise and purple colors, only the small pelvic fins were a deeper and richer hue of turquoise. You wondered if the fin at the end of his tail looked the same, but you couldn’t see it. He had it still emerged in the water, gently moving as if it was stirring in its sleep.

The moment didn’t last long enough and in your wonder and fascination you didn’t even consider taking a photo right away.

As if he felt something was wrong, as if he knew someone was staring at him, his eyes slowly opened. The so serene situation turned into panic within an instant. His eyes widened and he pushed himself off the rock and back into the water.

“Wait!” the words left your mouth without thinking, no one even knew if mer creatures could understand human speech just like that, but you couldn’t help it. You didn’t want him to leave. The merman didn’t listen though, he had jumped into the water and didn’t emerge from it again.

Your expression fell but you brought the boat closer to the rock where he laid on anyway. Maybe he was still around. Though a look all around you showed you that he wasn’t around anymore. You sighed and let your head drop, the disappointment clearly evident in your expression. As enthralled as you were from catching a glimpse at almost his full body you were also hoping… well, an actual encounter maybe? You weren’t even sure.

A splashing sound behind you made your head jerk around.

Your breath got caught in your throat and your heart started to race again as your eyes met these deep and shiny green eyes of the merman. You were frozen in place once more, not daring to move as he stared at you just like you stared at him. He seemed wary, those green eyes did not avert from yours for even an instant, though you dared to call that passing glance in them curiosity. You swallowed and tried to calm down your heart that threatened to burst out of your ribcage before you very slowly inched closer to the end of the little boat. He didn’t avert his eyes at all when you approached him, only a small wrinkle above his nose indicated that he was still very cautious of you.

“Hello?” you didn’t know where this came from, it was just habit to greet everyone - or everything - you met.

Those clear green eyes observed you, his brows furrowed a bit as you raised your voice. But then his lips parted, and you could catch a glimpse of a row of sharp teeth, and he emitted a small sound that resembled someone clicking their tongue. You didn’t know what it meant, but it brought a smile onto your face - out of wonder or simply joy you couldn’t tell - and you just assumed he greeted you as well.

You weren’t sure what you even intended or where to go from here. You didn’t know how well he could understand you and a gesture like reaching out to shake his hand was most likely neither a good idea nor would he know what you were trying to do.

But the urge to reach out just to see if he would allow some sort of contact to happen was too strong.

Your fingers trembled a bit you noticed as you leaned over the edge of the boat and very slowly held out your open palm to him. The thought that this was an absolute irrational and even dangerous move because you had no idea just how friendly or hostile the merman actually was didn’t occur to you once.

He didn’t back away or flinch but his gaze shifted to your offered hand. You swallowed again, trying to ignore the lump in your throat as you waited for his reaction.

“It’s okay,” you said and you didn’t know whether it was because he somehow understood your words or because he only now decided how to react to the gesture but he moved. 

He came closer incredibly slowly, his eyes still switching between yours and your hand until he was barely out of reach. You felt your heartbeat in your throat as his arms emerged from the water and he raised them slowly to your outstretched hand. Lean arms, a tiny wrist but big hands, the water dripping from them glistened in the sun.

And then one hand wrapped around your wrist.

The grip around your wrist was firm, almost too rough and for the moment of a heartbeat a cold shiver ran down your spine. But it vanished as soon as it came as the merman did not do anything but keep your hand in place. His skin felt normal, not different from a human at all, though the feel of it was altered by the water still running down it. You noticed that his hands were webbed. Only slightly unlike what you would have assumed. 

And after a moment, after the water dripping from him became less and there was only a thin layer of dampness you noticed something else. At first you assumed it was just the glistening water drops on his skin but the more you looked at his skin the more apparent it became. His skin was covered in very faint markings. His arms and what you could see from his neck and shoulders were covered in lines and swirls which looked similar to scars but obviously weren’t. And only then did you notice his gills. He had three gills on each side of his neck, just barely above the curve where it met his shoulders, though right now they weren’t more than three thin lines, you supposed they closed themselves since he was above the surface (there were theories that mer creatures had lungs as well).

He was beautiful.

There was simply no other way to describe him.

You watched his face, watched how a frown appeared on his sharp features as he looked at your hand before his eyes barely widened. You just stared, frozen in place, his hand around your wrist, unable to do anything or to properly think, as the merman raised his other hand and he slid one sole finger between your fore- and middle finger, the faint contact causing a tingling sensation in your body. His expression was outright curious as his fingertip pressed against the juncture between your fingers and it slowly dawned on you that he noticed that you didn’t have webbed fingers. You assumed he has never encountered a human before.

The moment was forcefully ended by a barking sound behind you.

You flinched and you spun around hastically, a sense of relief appearing in the back of your head that the merman let your hand go, and you came face to face with a… sea lion?

You blinked, confusion mixing into the panic.

There was a sea lion leaning on your boat, most of it still emerged in the water. But no, that wasn’t a normal sea lion either. Its wet black fur glistened in the sun and it had purple markings, astoundingly similar to the ones you spotted on the merman. The creature looked at you but didn’t make another move, it just… kept its eyes on you.

You heard a sound behind you that sounded like a chuckle.

You turned around again, at this point you swore you would get a heart attack before you even had the chance to write anything you discovered and experienced right now down. The merman smirked. His full lips curved upwards creating an amused expression on his face, though you had to admit it boosted his pretty features even more.

The mer creature exclaimed a couple more of these clicking sounds, though this time accompanied by whistling noises and the sea lion pushed itself back into the waters, causing the boat to sway a bit, only to appear next to the merman. He cradled the sea lions face in his hands, stroking the wet black fur while seemingly talking to it. You stared in awe and wonder at the interaction between these two and how affectionate the merman was towards the other creature, not to mention that it looked absolutely overjoyed at the pats and attention it got from him.

You smiled, just observing the scene while on the inside you were just delighted about all of this. You couldn’t even put a finger on one thing that caused this. It was the combination of you finally being here, in these uncharted waters and being able to learn so much, encountering and getting into contact with an actual merman, observing how he communicated with other creatures, not to mention you were completely intrigued by the merman. You could almost still feel his skin on your wrist, those deep green eyes watching you…

The chirping of a bird interrupted your train of thoughts and you looked up to see the blue bird you’ve seen before land on the rock the merman was sunbathing on before.

More sounds were exchanged between these three creatures before the bird looked at you again. It scrutinized you, watched you until it almost felt uncomfortable.

“Eh… hi?” you said. The bird fluffed his feathers up, but then it stretched out one of its wings and made a gesture that almost seemed like it saluted to you.

You blinked at it, completely dumbfounded.

“Can… can you understand me?”

The reply you got was the closest to a shrug you could get from a bird creature probably. You were baffled and absolutely surprised as this was truly the last thing you expected now. Whatever this creature was it was not a bird. A demon maybe since you knew those could understand human speech and usually understand it too.

“Can you speak?” you asked, eyes full of wonder. Its yellow eyes looked at you and it tilted its head as if it was trying to figure out what you said. And then it chirped again. You guessed that was your answer. That was not what you meant. But that it understood you in the first place was surprising enough. 

“Do you have names?” you directed the question at the bird since it apparently understood you, but you looked at the merman again as you were the most curious about him admittedly. The merman was still watching you out of those clear green eyes. The bird creature seemed to chuckle. It fluffed up its glowing blue feathers again before replying with a variety of sounds, some reminded you more of puffing rather than chirping sounds, but it was hard for you to know if that was its actual name, not to mention that you couldn’t copy those sounds at all.

The bird flew over to the sea lion creature, landed on its head and looked down at it. Again, the sounds were hard to decipher for you but the sounds had more whistles in it. The sea lion barked and looked as if it was smiling. You were impressed each time how expressive these animals (or creatures) were.

The sound the bird made when it pointed one glowing wing at the merman was very short, only one syllable and you tried your hardest to repeat it after the bird. The bird seemed to huff, obviously annoyed, but it repeated the sound again.

“Fi… Ui,” you murmured, the bird repeating it one more time and you felt like a little kid being chided by their teacher. You looked at the merman, furrowing your brows, an apologetic smile on your lips.

“Can’t I call you V?” you asked defeated. Honestly, to your ears V sounded the closest to what the bird whistled.

The sea lion barked again, in approval or not you couldn’t tell, but the merman closed his eyes for a moment, long eyelashes fell against prominent cheekbones, but then he nodded very slightly and you smiled, the relief evident on your face. The bird shook its head, the gesture was way too human for this little creature and you wondered if maybe it has had human contact before.

“I figure out how to say your names somehow,” you said, though you weren’t sure if those two creatures understood you completely. The bird understood it at least partly you assumed.

The bird seemed to take your words as a sign to leave again as it spread its wings and took off, though it stayed close to the merman. The sea lion followed it, diving back underwater and it left without another sound. And apparently the merman wanted to leave as well. It turned around, probably with the full intention of swimming away.

“Wait!” you called after him and the mer creature stopped his movements, the little fins replacing his ears twitched, and he looked back over his shoulder. His damp white hair obscured most of his features like this, but you still caught the shimmer of his green eyes shining through the strands of it.

“Will I… can I... see you again?” the question only slowly left your lips and you didn’t know if he understood a word you said but still your heart started to beat faster in your chest again. You couldn’t describe how grateful you were for the bird intervening once again. You weren’t sure completely but you assumed it translated your question to the merman.

The merman - V - averted his gaze and looked down at the water’s surface. For a moment he looked deeply lost in thoughts and what you could see of his expression could only be described as concerned. The situation from yesterday came back into your mind. The way he seemed to have told you and the others to leave and you wondered if this expression had something to do with it.

But then he looked at you again and nodded once more. Your own worries disappeared right away and a smile broke out on your face again. You waved at him and you could’ve sworn you saw the hint of an upwards curve on his lips before he disappeared into the waters again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You spent the rest of the day locked in your cabin, after Nero and Nico finally gave you some time and space. Nico was just curious and just as thrilled about your encounter with the creatures as you were and of course wanted to know everything. Nero, on the other hand, was just deeply worried and a bit angry for you to just disappear like this. Apparently you were gone for quite a while and he couldn’t see nor tell whether or not something happened to you while you were out of sight of the ship. You appreciated his concerns deeply but since it became obvious that your sense of danger and self-preservation was barely existent you hoped Nero wouldn’t be this concerned about you soon. You didn’t want him to do spend his time this way. Yes, he was here for work as well, but he should enjoy his time here with his girlfriend a bit too. You didn’t want to take anymore of their time away if you could help it…

You were buried over your laptop and handwritten notes about every single thing you remembered from today. You didn’t leave any detail out and prayed that you didn’t forget anything. Just by what you witnessed and experienced today you could at least write an essay about mer creatures social behaviors or at least clues of them.

You only left out how your heartbeat spiked at the sight of him, how you could still feel his wet skin around your wrist, how curious he was about your fingers... 

You fell asleep this night to the image of deep green eyes, disrupted by strands of shiny white hair.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You returned to the exact same spot the next morning, boat prepared with notebooks, heart racing and too much excitement and motivation to see and learn even more.

And there he was again.

He was sprawled out on the very same rock as yesterday. Just this time he laid on his back, arms dangling and the end of his tail again still in the water, idly moving and causing the slightest of disruptions in the water around him. You wondered if the rock didn’t bother him pressing against his dorsal fin like this. The sun was burning bright onto his lean body, the few single drops of water sparkling on his pale skin, and you noticed that his chest was very subtly rising and falling. So, did he truly have lungs too?

You took out your notebook before he woke up or realized you were there and scribbled down that supposedly he had lungs and that he seemed to be sunbathing on the same rock each morning.

Either it was the sound of the paper rustling or something else but the merman noticed you only a moment later. There was a sense of alert all over him, even from a distance you could see how his muscles tensed. He was turned onto his stomach in an instant, his hands braced against the rock ready to push him off into the water to escape from whatever potential threat approached him.

His flight instinct should probably be a warning to you that there are threats and dangers in these waters and that there was a reason for these waters being uncharted. Should be...

Though, when his eyes met yours and an undeniable warmth spread through your chest once his body relaxed visibly all these thoughts were gone again.

V did not push himself into the water. He had his hands still braced on the rock but he looked as if he was contemplating whether or not to resume his sunbathing or to do something else. You smiled at him but then decided to maybe show him that you did not have any intention of disturbing him. You would be perfectly content with just observing and watching him, to learn about his behavior.

You couldn’t believe that this journey that you’ve been dreaming of all your life already proved to be such a success. You’ve encountered a real mer creature, you’ve made contact with him even and now you had the opportunity to study him even further, not to mention his two companions, the bird and the sea lion.

You crossed your legs in your tiny boat, adjusted the sunhat on your head and grabbed your notebook, hopefully signaling to V that you had no intention of doing anything else that may disturb him in his usual activities.

It seemed to work.

Out of your peripheral vision you could see how his posture relaxed and he layed back down on the rock, on his stomach again, making it easier for him to push himself back into the water should he have to.

You started writing down notes about your surroundings, about the island, about the rock formations, about the silhouettes and shadows you could see beneath the blue water’s surface. The island had a very little bay on this side, full of little rocks poking out of the water’s surface, and a very small trail leading into the island, barely wide enough for the merman to swim through probably. That scenery was so gorgeous. How the tiny waves crashed against the rocks, pearls of water filling the air, glistening in the sun like diamonds, how occasionally a colorful tiny fish breached the surface and gave a silent promise of a beautiful scenery way below the surface, a scenery made out of fascinating caves and crevices, of stunning plants and life forms. You honestly couldn’t wait to explore them and see all of it for yourself.

You wrote it all down. Everything you saw, everything you thought about, theories, assumptions, opinions, ideas for what else you could do and needed to take a closer look at, all the while you stole fleeting glances at the merman still sunbathing on the smooth rock. He looked so relaxed again with his features calm, his eyes closed and the sun making it seem as if his still slightly wet body sparkled in the bright light.

You took photos of your surroundings. The same things you just wrote down you now took pictures of. You took photos of the water, hoping to catch some of the fish you saw swimming below the surface, of the island, the rocks-

You let out a startled sound and flinched back when the merman breached the surface and was suddenly right in front of you. You were so busy and focused on taking these photos that you didn’t notice how V left the rock and swam over to your boat. You took a deep breath to calm your racing heart (this time at least you could say for sure it was out of surprise) before you shook your head, a small smile creeping onto your face. V didn’t give you the impression as if your reaction has startled him in return, no, instead he seemed rather pleased. There was a smirk on his full lips and a playful glance in his green eyes.

“You startled me there for a second.” You huffed a chuckle, even though he probably didn’t understand you.

The words were caught in your throat however when the merman raised one arm out of the water and his slightly webbed fingers reached for your hand holding the camera. It was wrapped around your wrist with a string, so you allowed him to take a hold of it and to pull it a bit closer to his face. You leaned forwards a bit and went with the movement and you just hoped that his physical strength wasn’t big enough to break the camera, you weren’t worried about it getting wet, though, as it was meant to be used during diving as well. V probably saw you holding the camera in all different directions and it probably intrigued him but you found this display of curiosity incredibly adorable. Green eyes inspected the device, webbed fingers slid cautiously over the metal.

“Let me show you,” you said and you leaned forwards as much as you could without having to be afraid of falling into the water. You took a hold of your camera again, your fingers brushing his wet ones, still incredibly warm from his earlier sunbathing.

“You just hold it to what you wanna photograph,” you told him, no matter if he understood, it just felt wrong not to talk while explaining it. You held the camera in front of his face, so he could see the little screen, “and then you just press this button.” You continued and took a photo of the nearby rocks. His brows furrowed, but he followed your hands moving very closely. You lowered the camera a bit, now pointing at the water’s surface, and opened the gallery and when the photo of the rocks appeared on the little screen the frown on V’s face got a little deeper. V looked up and his gaze switched between the camera’s screen and the rocks you took a photo of. You chuckled at his obvious confusion. It was… cute.

An echoic chirp sounded in the air and a moment later the little bird landed on V’s head. They talked about something for a moment, an exchange of clicking sounds and chirping, before the bird turned its head and his multiple yellow eyes inspected the camera in your hands. It didn’t say anything directed at you (at least it seemed that way) but turned its attention back to V. They talked again and you weren’t sure but to you it sounded serious, he way V’s expression shifted, the way the chirps of the bird sounded. You wished now more than anything that you could understand what they were saying.

The conversation ended after a short while and ended with the bird hovering in the air obviously waiting for V. The merman lowered his head, for a moment lost in thoughts until he made a sound that sounded too much like an exasperated sigh. He slid a hand through his damp white hair, a gesture that was far too mesmerizing for your own liking before he looked at you again. His green eyes stared at you in sympathy but then he raised his hand to make a waving gesture just like you did yesterday.

And then he turned around and left. The bird looked at you for a moment longer before he flew in the same direction as the merman. You looked after them, a bit confused about what that was all about but you were still at a point where you had no idea what the life of a mer creature looked like. He probably couldn’t stay all day in one place. And still… how curious and confused he was about that camera has been so endearing.

You sighed, kinda irritated by your own thoughts, but then decided the probably best way to proceed was to just do what you did before V showed interest in photography.

You navigated the boat back to the side of the island where the ship was in view, if only just to calm Nero down, and started your exploration again. You scribbled down notes, took photos, received a few new samples for Nico and simply took your time to enjoy the weather and scenery, there was no place for thoughts about danger or risks, even though deep down in the back of your mind you knew you probably should be a bit more wary of the environment.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It hurt.

There was nothing but pain everywhere in his body and only his natural instinct of flight that told him to get away, he needed to get away, made him move his aching and wounded body.

He felt his vision getting blurry, the haste and fear and the injuries too much for his body to bear anymore. He breached the surface with a painful groan and with whatever strength he had left he dragged himself onto one of the rocks. He barely noticed the cold stone, barely noticed how it was still dark outside. He did not mind his injuries, how the stones dug painfully into his wounds, he pulled his entire tail and fin onto the rock despite his mind screaming at him not to do it, that he cut off his connection to a water source, that he would lethally dehydrate quickly. But he knew he was bleeding, that foul smell filled his senses and blood would only attract him again. He needed to get away, nothing else mattered. Just to get away.

He barely noticed how his strength left him, how he slumped down painfully on the rock, how his companions nudged him and expressed their fear and concern for him. They couldn’t help. He didn’t know how bad his injuries were but it didn’t matter one way or another. The sun would dry him out soon and in the water his blood would lead to his death as well… He didn’t know what to do, just an instinct that told him to get away from the threat, from the danger and to not care about anything else.

It hurt so much. But he couldn’t have let him get to these creatures. He couldn’t.

It hurt so much.

He felt his companion’s snout nudge his head again as his vision went black.


	4. Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody,
> 
> a new chapter is done :)
> 
> Just so you know: This will be the first and only really serious chapter. This is supposed to be a sweet and sappy fic and this chapter will be the only exception from this :3
> 
> And thank you so much everybody for your lovely feedback! 💚💚💚
> 
> I hope you like it!
> 
> Enjoy! 💚🌹

You groaned as you tumbled out of your cabin, one hand rubbing your forehead in an attempt to rub the sleep from your mind. It was still dark outside, if anything there was only a hint of the sun at the horizon, meaning it was definitely too early. The sound of very loud barking which woke you up got almost deafening once you entered the deck.

“Kyrie, stay inside,” Nero told his girlfriend before he muttered something under his breath, “What the fuck is this?!” he groaned once Kyrie was out of earshot. You had no idea, your mind was still half asleep and you rubbed one of your eyes as you stepped forwards on the deck.

“Geez, what the hell is going on here?!” Nico complained who looked as tired as you felt.

“Whatever it is, it better shuts up.” Nero was completely agitated understandably. Being woken up by barking sounds like this was annoying to say the least, especially since he still wasn’t completely used to the sounds of this area.

You leaned over the railing on the side of the ship, trying to see where the barking sounds came from but given how dark it still was, it was rather difficult. You walked a bit further up ahead on the boat but still nothing. At least the cool air pulled you more out of your sleepy state. The barking never once stopped nor did it get any quieter.

“Ouch! You stupid bird! Leave me alone, I don’t have time for this!”

You looked over to Nero who was holding his head, only to spot the familiar blue bird flying around him. And then it dawned on you. The bird being here… the barking sound… the sea lion! A sense of dread spread through your body and you felt as if someone clenched your heart in an iron grip. You didn’t like this.

You didn’t like this one bit.

And then the bird was all over you though unlike Nero it didn’t peck at you, but it chirped at you way too fast, there was an urgency all over it and it only made you feel worse. The bird grabbed a hold of the strap of your top with its feet in an attempt to pull you somewhere. You followed its direction to the bow, the dread and almost panic made your head spin, all thoughts of sleep wiped from your mind.

And when you leaned over the railing and looked at the water you caught a slight movement. You assumed it was from the barking sea lion but it was still too dark to properly seel. You wondered if you even wanted to see because you knew. You knew something happened, that something was going on and you wouldn’t like it.

“Here! I got this,” Nico said and she turned on the moveable floodlight at the bow of the ship. 

You felt your blood run cold.

You stared, mouth open, eyes wide, a lump in your throat and for a moment you felt dizzy. You clenched the railing and your lower lip trembled as you watched at the rocks below you and saw the merman lying there completely motionless. He was still a bit away from the ship but even in this distance and only with the floodlight you could still make out the deep red color covering his body.

“V,” you breathed and forced yourself away from the horrific image. You turned around, ignored the cold sweat on your hands and ran to the boat.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?!” Nero stopped you from launching the boat into the water by putting his human hand on your shoulder.

“I’ll get him out of there!” 

“Are you insane?! You don’t know what happened! What if it’s still out there?!”

“Nero please,” your voice was shaking as you looked at him and almost begged him to let you go. Nero’s lips trembled and he ran his hands over his face.

“Alright, I’m coming with you. Nico, you and Kyrie stay inside!”

You truly hoped Nero could see it on your face how grateful you were as he helped you with the boat. You didn’t trust your words right now. You had a hard time fathoming what was happening now. You couldn’t explain what happened, you couldn’t explain your reaction but one thing became very clear to you right now:

Something dangerous was in these waters. All these warnings have not been empty. Not at all.

But it still didn’t matter now. Right now you needed to help. You needed to get to V. Whatever happened, the merman was badly injured and needed help. That’s why these two other creatures were so agitated and panicking even.

When you reached V with the boat you immediately reached out your hands, shaking and sweating to get to the merman and do something but again, Nero stopped you.

“I do that. Keep an eye out for anything weird.” Nero’s voice was hard, left no room for argument. You just nodded and watched with wide eyes and parted lips as he left the boat carefully. You couldn’t pay much attention to your surroundings though. Nero was cautious, incredibly wary as he moved on the rock, constantly looking at the sea lion creature who stopped barking but was moving nervously around.

“Shit,” Nero cursed as he picked V up just enough to get him into the boat and you inhaled the air deeply through your nose to keep your eyes from getting teary.

“Careful. Whatever happened to him, it got him good,” Nero told you, though his voice was filled with sympathy and concern.

You felt the cold shiver coursing through your body as you saw from up close what condition V was in. There were cuts and bruises all over him, some were still bleeding and looked really deep as if he was stabbed by something. What worried you the most however was that he wasn’t reacting or moving at all. He was breathing but he was unconscious and you couldn’t tell what his condition truly was.

You put his head in your lap as Nero adjusted the tail in the boat, which was too small for three people, and pushed one of your hands against one of the still bleeding wounds on his body, it wasn’t bleeding a lot, but just seeing the blood made you feel horrible.

Nero brought the boat back the ship quickly, the sea lion creature followed you until you reached it before it began barking again quietly. It sounded so worried too.

“We got him. He’ll be fine,” you said and you hoped it would understand what you meant.

“Holy shit!” Nico exclaimed once you were back on the boat. She was at your side immediately.

“Where?” Nero wanted to know as he picked the still unconscious merman up in his arms. Nico shook her head, she was probably shocked by the sight just as everyone else was.

“The hall,” she said and pointed at the door that led to her lab. Nero was on his way immediately. He kicked the door open without a care for its condition and rushed into the huge room. It scared you to see him so serious but you were also so incredibly grateful for his help. You couldn’t have gotten V onto here by yourself…

There was a table, more a workbench, directly attached to the tank, also the very same height, in the middle of the huge room and Nero carefully placed the merman on top of it, as mindful of the ridge along his spine but luckily the fin has flattened enough for it to seem not really uncomfortable.

You were at the table immediately and looked him over again now that you had more lighting and could see him better. He looked horrible. You thought the bleeding has stopped by now. At least you couldn’t see any new and you couldn’t describe the layer of relief that covered your nerves. It didn’t calm your racing heart but it pushed the fear of something worse happening to him into the back of your mind and allowed you to think more rationally.

You put a hand on his forehead, stroking some strands of his white hair out of his face in the process. His skin felt cold to the touch, so unlike when your fingers brushed earlier this morning. You were glad, though, that despite his condition his face wasn’t contorted in pain. At least him being unconscious spared him from having to deal with the pain for any longer. It was still horrific to see him this way. 

“Alright, we gotta patch the guy up! Here, ya clean the wounds and I’ll fix ‘em.” Nico placed a bucket of water on the ground and handed you some soft towels. Your hands weren’t shaking as much as you noticed. You simply nodded.

“Hey, we got this. He’ll be okay again,” Nico reassured you. You nodded again, you didn’t know what else to say. You’ve never been in such a situation before, so you had no real experience to know how to deal with it. 

“Do you still need me? Otherwise I rather be outside and have a look around,” Nero said. There were some blood stains on his white T-shirt as you realized, the sight made you feel dreadful again and you looked down at V again.

“Maybe to get him into the tank later, but not right now,” Nico answered him as she worked on a wound on the merman’s shoulder.

“Gotcha. Call me then. Good luck...” Nero murmured before he left with a sigh.

You started cleaning the wounds and his body at his shoulders and slowly worked your way down his arms. If the circumstances were different you may have actually admired the faint markings on his skin but there was no place for any of this in your mind right now. You just hoped you could help him.

An echoic, hectic chirping made you both look up. The little bird creature flew into the hall right as Nero left and landed next to V’s head.

“Hi buddy,” Nico greeted the bird and you admired that she still sounded so… optimistic even. The bird didn’t make a sound but it watched you and what you were doing to V out of six yellow eyes. You didn’t say anything either.

“What is this?” you asked out loud as you continued cleaning his arm. Nico raised her brows and followed your gaze. You held V’s wrist gently in yours, the skin felt so unusually cold and dry, you didn’t like it at all, not in these circumstances, but now that the skin was clean again there was something else you noticed. They were faint, barely noticeable, but there were little cracks on his skin as if his skin was crumbling.

“Have these always been there?” Nico wanted to know. You shook your head. Yes, with his wet skin glistening in the sun you may have been distracted, but you definitely would’ve noticed that.

The little bird made a noise again. You almost forgot that it could understand a lot of what you were saying. It flew up and grabbed one of the little towels which were lying on the table and threw it into the bucket of water. Nico and you both watched what it was doing, without you letting go of V’s hand, until the bird grabbed the soaked towel and dropped it onto the merman’s hand. You stared at the gesture which obviously was supposed to tell you something.

“Ooooh! He’s dehydrated!” Nico exclaimed. You lips formed an oh sound as well as the realization dawned on you.

“He was out of the water for too long,” you said. The bird nodded its head.

“Then let’s patch him up quickly so we can get him in the tank,” Nico said and you nodded. Though the implications of these cracks on his skin weren’t lost on you. He would’ve died if you hadn’t found him…

You shook your head to rid yourself off these thoughts and continued your work. You left the wet towel the bird dropped on his hand as it was probably not a bad thing. The turquoise color of merman’s tail seemed much duller now that it was completely dry and away from the sunlight, as you noticed when you wiped the blood and dirt off of it. God, some of these wounds looked so gruesome. You couldn’t really tell, you hardly had any idea what kind of creatures lived in these waters, so you could only assume that these cuts and stabs were caused by claws… really big claws… 

After you were done you threw the bloodied towels into the bucket and watched as Nico treated the wounds. You wondered why and how she knew what to do but you appreciated it nonetheless. You definitely couldn’t do it and you doubt Nero or Kyrie were experts on that either.

You watched as Nico stitched and bandaged the cuts and you felt your heartbeat slowly calm down. The sight was still awful, seeing all these bruises about which Nico could do nothing about, only time would tell, you just hoped he didn’t have any broken bones as well…

“Hey,” Nico put a hand on your shoulder, “keep ya head up. He’ll be alright.” She smiled at you. You nodded and tried to reciprocate that smile, though you still found it hard to do. The bird chirped again and you hoped he was agreeing with Nico.

“We should get him into the tank now. We’ll keep him here until these wounds are healed. We need to change the bandages and check ‘em probably daily, especially since he’s gonna be in the water, too,” Nico explained. You pulled your lower lip into your mouth in thought. Him staying here was inevitable, you probably knew that already once you saw his wounds but the tank was hardly comfortable for a mer creature. It was meant for a variety of fish but not for a merman who was much taller than you were. If he sat he would probably be emerged in the water just below his shoulders. Maybe he could take like two swim strokes before reached the other end. Not to mention there was nothing in there, just water. But it would have to suffice until his wounds were healed.

“I’m gonna get tough guy to help,” Nico said and left the hall. You looked at V’s face again. If you hadn’t seen the wounds, if you hadn’t known he must be in pain you almost could’ve believed he was just sleeping. There was no contortion on his features, he almost looked relaxed. If only that truly was the case.

The little bird creature made a noise again, revealing his three parted beak once more. It seemed to be telling you something but again, you had no clue what it was. It stretched its glowing wings and flew up again. It left through one of the narrow windows just below the ceiling of the hall and you made a mental note to leave that window open at all times because the bird would return soon probably.

Nero and Nico came back quickly. There was still concern in Nero’s blue eyes as he carefully picked the merman up again, mindful of not touching any of the wounds and to cause as little movements to his body as necessary. There was no reaction when the merman made contact with the water and Nero gently let him slide to the ground, but you couldn’t help but feel relieved anyway. Nico was right. He’d be okay.

“Now we play the waiting game,” Nico said and sighed, “I’m gonna get cleaned up and take a shower.”

Nico made her way to the door that led to the cabins, but she turned around when she reached it, one hand on the doorframe.

“You know, girl, I know I asked ya for samples, but ya truly didn’t have to go to such extremes.” She winked at you and you couldn’t help but laugh. It wasn’t loud, wasn’t long, just a small, quiet laugh but it was genuine and it eased your nerves quite a bit.

“I’m with Kyrie if you need me. And really, don’t go out there again. We should observe the area from a distance for now.”

You agreed with Nero. Yes, you really didn’t care about danger. Not in regards to yourself. But you couldn’t deny how much it shocked you to actually see that there really was something hidden in these uncharted waters. Something that caused people to vanish and die here and that was now supposedly responsible for the merman’s injuries.

You hoped he would get better soon and that you never had to see a sight like this again.

You went to your cabin to get cleaned up yourself real quick before you returned to the hall with a pillow. You sat down on the pillow on the hard floor next to the tank and sighed. As Nico said, time to play the waiting game. There was nothing you could do at this point but wait for the merman to wake up. You hoped he wouldn’t be in any pain, not to mention that you hoped he wouldn’t be too shocked about waking up in these new surroundings.


	5. Adjustment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for V to wake up and get adjusted to his temporary home. Also, Griffon is a very strong and scary bird, you know?! 😉

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone,
> 
> the new chapter is ready! After the serious one last time let's get back to the sweet and cute stuff, what do you say? 💚
> 
> Thank you all so much for all your amazing feedback! I'm so happy you like this idea and fic 💚
> 
> Enjoy! 💚

You stirred as someone shook your shoulder. The smell of coffee filled your nose and you felt a cold surface against your cheek.

…!

You woke up with a start, the sleep being immediately erased from your mind as you realized you had fallen asleep. Your gaze went to inside the tank, though V was still not awake. You sighed and rubbed your cheek which laid against the glass during your involuntary nap and looked up at Nico who gave you a sympathetic smile and held a cup of coffee in front of you. You thanked her for it and directed your gaze back inside the tank. 

“You’ve only slept for less than an hour if you’re curious,” Nico told you smiling.

“That’s something at least,” you replied, “did anything happen?”

Nico shook her head, “no, nothing. Whatever got to him really messed him up, he lost quite a bit of blood and being out of the water for who knows how long didn’t do him any favors either. He seems to be like us in regards to how his body handles injuries, I assume then he needs all the rest he can get for now.”

You sipped your coffee as you listened to Nico’s theories. Since the assumption was that the merman’s body reacted similar to that of a human then the healing process would probably be the same too. At least this way Nico’s treatment of the wounds was most likely the right one and maybe they could also know what to do from here.

You almost didn’t catch the twitch of V’s tail.

You sat up on your knees, almost tipping your cup of coffee over, and stared wide-eyed into the tank. You didn’t move or say anything, you just watched with a racing heart as the merman slowly stirred. His brows furrowed, a grimace appeared on his face, his fin twitched before his eyes slowly opened, only to squeeze them shut again. When his eyes opened the next time he raised his hand, a gesture that seemed oddly slow as if it was hard for him to do so, and touched his forehead.

It was that moment when he noticed something was off.

He froze completely. He didn’t even move a muscle. But then his entire demeanor shifted.

His tail swung once and pushed him backwards only for him to make contact with the wall of the tank behind him. There was a sense of panic and hecticness all over the merman and it made your heart ache because you had no idea what to do or how to calm him down. You jumped to your feet and called out his name, though he didn’t hear you nor did he seem to see you in his state of fright.

He turned onto his stomach and pushed himself towards the surface, he didn’t even realize he just had to sit up to breach it. There was no sound that left his lips as his head appeared on the surface, just the splashing of the water was audible. You called out his name once more but again he didn’t notice you, he was too absorbed in his own mind. 

His hands found the edge of the tank and he braced himself there, his instincts telling him to get away, this was an unfamiliar location, something was wrong and it made your heart ache. But when he tried to push himself up, he probably didn’t even know where he wanted to go, he flinched. His face contorted in pain as a groan left his lips and he slumped back down until he sat on the tank’s floor again. His hands didn’t leave the edge but your gaze softened when you saw they trembled slightly.

“V.” You tried again, much quieter, much softer than before now that his hecticness and panic was wearing off and you gently laid a hand on top of his. The merman flinched and looked up at you. Your heart dropped. His green eyes were full of way too many emotions but most of all he just looked scared. There was no pain you could see in these beautiful orbs, just the fright and the confusion of him not knowing where he was or what was going on.

You dared to grab a hold of his hand and hoped he would understand the gesture. He watched you as you cradled his webbed fingers in your hands, gently stroking over them with your thumb. That relief you felt as you saw that the cracks on his skin were almost completely gone again already didn’t escape you.

“It’s okay,” you whispered. Maybe he couldn’t understand you, but he could understand the tone of your voice, soft and quiet, “you’re safe.”

And it did seem to calm him down.

The fearful glance in his eyes faded, just the confusion stayed behind. His lips parted and he made a few clicking sounds, not louder than your whispers. You wished you could understand him… 

V looked down at where your hands were still holding his and you followed his gaze. You couldn’t describe, let alone explain, why it felt as if your heart just skipped a beat, why it made you feel as if a comforting warmth spread through your body that washed away all the fear and concern which dominated your mind the last minutes to hours. You couldn’t explain it but deep down in the back of your mind was a pulsating thought that told you it had to do with this. This gesture, V’s hand reciprocating the contact and wrapping his webbed fingers around yours, whether it was intentional or an instinctive reaction, it sparked something that calmed you down and made you truly believe that he was gonna be alright again.

“Are ya alright?! I heard ya scream- oh!”

Out of instinct V retreated back into the water as much as possible. He pulled his hand away from yours roughly and moved back to the middle of the tank and turned his body slightly away from you, seemingly out of reach for you and Nico who had entered the hall with a worried look which turned into surprise very soon. V frowned, his mouth formed a hard line, his spiny fin stretched and made slight up and down movements. There was no fear anymore. Neither in his eyes nor in his posture, just a wariness that was as much instinctual as it was a normal reaction to encountering someone (or something) you’ve never seen before, especially in an unfamiliar environment and after being supposedly through a traumatic experience.

“Hey there.” Nico smiled at the merman before she turned her gaze to you and winked, “sorry, didn’t wanna ruin your moment there.”

You rolled your eyes, though you prayed she wouldn’t ask you further about it because hell, you couldn’t explain what this situation was either. You didn’t reply, just kept your eyes on the mer creature who didn’t budge from his spot, but instead you noticed the slight twitch of his eye.

“You think he’s in pain?” you asked Nico. The woman shrugged.

“I’d assume so. At least he seems like it.”

“Can we do something about it?”

“Not sure. I’d give him pain killers but I doubt he’d take ‘em,” Nico said. She crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips. There was the question if V would take anything from them. He couldn’t understand them, so it would boil down to a matter of how much he trusted Nico and you. He seemed to be more trusting of you than Nico right now, but if he would accept pills or whatnot that was another question.

V grimaced again slightly and looked down his body. He seemed to notice his bruises and bandages only then properly and a nervous shiver ran down your spine as you watched him slowly touch one of the darker bruises on his side. You hoped he wouldn’t try to get the bandages off. Though when he touched on of the bandaged wounds and examined it and pressed slightly down on it he flinched and a quiet painful sound left his lips. You flinched. But the pain at least convinced him to leave the bandages and bruises alone.

You all looked up when the familiar echoic chirp became audible and the blue bird creature flew through the window into the hall. The expression on the merman’s face turned to one of relief and he held up his arm for the bird to land on. Nico and you watched in silence as they talked, a variety of chirps and whistles and clicks being exchanged, though the bird spoke much more than the merman. When the conversation was done V nodded and lowered his arm again as the bird flew over to you.

“Yo say, little chickee, can I have a few of your feathers?” Nico asked it and you raised on eyebrow at her. The bird puffed out its body and the sound it made was the closest to a snort you ever heard from a bird. It… seemed offended. You chuckled. Nico pouted, though you assumed it was only half serious.

“Hey,” you started as a thought popped up in your head, “can you… show us what he eats? You can understand me, right?”

The blue bird tilted its head, looked at you out of its yellow eyes and thought about your question for a long moment. You had no idea what mer creatures ate or needed to eat and you didn’t want to take any chances with that, especially not now that V was not in perfect health. Finally the bird nodded, spread its glowing wings and disappeared again.

“Not a bad idea actually,” Nico commented.

“This is not the time to experiment with his eating habits I suppose. Let’s hope the bird knows what I meant.”

“I think so. Fella seems like a smart chicken.” She grinned at you and you chuckled again, internally being really grateful that the mood has shifted to a more positive one.

“I leave ya two alone again. I have some samples to examine. Enjoy~”

You rolled your eyes again as Nico vanished into her lab and left you with the merman alone again. However, before you could do or say anything the bird appeared again. It held a smaller wiggling fish in its beak and a bigger one with his feet. You found it absolutely adorable how V’s little ear fins twitchted at the sight. The bird bit down harder on the fish in its mouth as well as squeezed it harder in its grasp and you watched as both fish stopped wiggling immediately. You were impressed at the strength this little creature had. It threw both fish into the tank before it vanished once more.

You kneeled on the floor again and leaned on your arms on the edge of the tank as you watched with fascination and curiosity sparkling in your eyes as V reached for the fish. Your assumption was that he caught them by himself in his natural habitat but that the bird was intelligent enough to not let V hunt by himself with his injuries. You admired the little creature for that. Also you made a mental note to write all of this down later.

V held the fish in both hands before he parted his full lips to reveal his sharp front teeth and just bit down. It was messy. He tore through the fish’s flesh and muscle easily, blood dripped down his chin, some fishbones mixed with small pieces of the fish fell into the tank. You grimaced a bit, not because you were grossed out by what he was doing but more because you realized you would have to clean the tank later. While you had a filter system that cleaned stuff like blood by itself it couldn’t get rid of the bones or anything solid.

By the time he was finished with both fish and he cleaned his hands and face by ducking and rubbing them underwater the bird came back once again. This time he held something in its little claws that looked like a vine with grapes, just that these grape-like berries were bright red. This time the bird didn’t let them fall into the tank but it carefully placed them in V’s open palms. The merman made a clicking sounds, you assumed he thanked the bird, before the little creature took a place on the edge of the tank.

You smiled softly as V let himself slump a little, his tail moved idly in the water as he popped one of the little berries into his mouth. He looked delighted and it made you wonder if the berries were something he needed or if it was just a treat for him. Either way you were glad he calmed down and was comfortable enough to eat and enjoy his food like this.

He ate a few more berries before his little ear fins twitched again and he looked up to the side. His green eyes met yours as if he only just now remembered that you were still there. You smiled at him but the smile quickly turned to an expression of surprise as the merman approached you. He picked a berry from the vine and held it up to you in his open palm.

“For me?” you asked while pointing at yourself. He understood the gesture and V nodded. You blinked as you felt a warmth creep up in your cheeks. It was stupid but you couldn’t help but feel… flattered? You didn’t expect a gesture like that from the merman, so this really caught you off guard.

“Thank you,” you said with a smile and you could’ve sworn you saw a sparkle in his green eyes as you took the berry from him. You’ve seen these berries before and you were sure you would find them if you dug through your books again. Still, for a moment you considered calling Nico in case you would need an antidote because it may be toxic for humans(V just ate a raw fish, it seemed at least that he could digest a bit more or different things than you). You ate it anyway, which was probably really stupid but that your sense of self-preservation was basically non-existent was established long ago already, so you didn’t really care.

The taste was rather sweet, it reminded you a lot of a sweet cherry, and when you smiled at V again, who was watching you expectedly, the corner of his lips curved upwards into a pleased smirk.

His gaze followed you when you got up, a silent question in his green eyes. You actually wondered if he didn’t want you to leave or if he was just curious about what you were doing generally. The first thought was surprisingly not half as uncomfortable as you expected…

“I’ll be right back,” you said smiling. The bird chirped and when V nodded once you knew it translated your words. You really wanted to know how the bird could understand you in the first place. And you wished even more it could speak. It could tell you what happened to V...

You hurried in your task. You grabbed something to drink, your notebook and some of your books. There are some things you wanted to look up and you figured you could do that while spending the merman some company. You wanted to and also you hoped your presence would make his situation just the slightest bit more bearable.

V raised his head in alarm and his shoulders tensed, the ridge along his spine straightening up when the door opened and you re-entered but he relaxed as soon as he saw it was you. You smiled to yourself, a sense of pride swelling inside you that you managed to get to such a level of trust within just a few days.

You sat down cross legged on the workbench since the tabletop was on the same level as the edge of the tank and placed your stuff next to you. The first book you skipped through was one about marine plants. While you truly didn’t believe the berry was bad for humans, you still wanted to know what it was and this was your most trusted resource. You bought the book in your first semester at university and it became one of your best friends over the years.

You found the page quickly since you had a pretty good idea where to look, but there still was some relief inside you to really have the confirmation that the berry was not poisonous for humans or anything. It was literally just a kind of grapes (which they also looked like) that could be found underwater.

The bird joined you on the workbench and also V approached you again. The merman tried to lay both his arms on the edge of the tank - and by extension the tabletop - but he flinched as he raised both arms. He retreated again and chose to simply sat down in the tank, apparently the bruises on his shoulders still hurt too much. You gave him a small, comforting smile.

You put the book away to grab another one, basically the same kind just about creatures and animals that have not been thoroughly - or not at all - studied yet but have been proven to exist, like mer creatures. Maybe you could figure out what kind of creature the little bird was.

The bird’s eyes watched you as you looked through the pages of the book, but once a few birds were displayed it got intrigued. It inched closer to you to get a better look. You smiled as you skimmed the pages since nothing resembled the blue-red bird next to you. However, once you reached the page about the Griffon, a creature half lion and half eagle, the bird whistled. You looked at it with one eyebrow raised and the bird puffed out its little chest.

“What?! You like this one?” you asked. You wondered if it believed to be this creature. But there was literally nothing that resembled this creature. The little bird looked more like a demonic dipper than anything else but definitely not like a Griffon. The little bird fluffed its feathers up making it appear bigger than it actually was. You chuckled. Admittedly it was kinda adorable.

“How about I just call you Griffon, then? I still don’t know your name and it seems to fit to a big, strong guy like you, right?” you grinned at the bird, although you weren’t sure if it understood all of your words. However, the bird puffed out its chest a couple of times and chirped.

“So, Griffon it is then,” you said. The bird chirped. And even V smirked again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You returned after dinner with Nico to the hall. Nico figured now may be a good time to check V’s injuries and change the bandages. It’s been over 12 hours since you found him and Nico said you should at least check today if the water affected the injuries in a bad way. You were nervous about that. V was wide awake now and you had no idea how he would react, let alone let you touch his wounds.

V tensed once again when the door opened and you entered the hall. And even though his shoulders relaxed and his dorsal fin slumped a bit there was still a sense of wariness all over him. His green eyes focused on Nico, his mouth formed a straight line. He was wary of her but his first reaction wasn’t flight anymore.

“Your turn, girl,” Nico said with a small smile on her lips. You exhaled heavily through your nose but nodded.

You braced yourself on the edge of the tank and leaned forwards a bit. V looked at you, those beautiful green orbs seeked out yours with something between curiosity and confusion since he probably caught on to something being up. You hoped he would somehow understand you or that Griffon could translate it for you.

“We need to check your injuries.” You pointed with one hand to his upper body while you held your own side with the other, hoping he would know what you’re talking about, “can you try to get on the table?” you pointed at the workbench attached to the tank. V followed your finger before he looked back at you. There was a hesitation and doubt in his eyes, which you expected, but it also showed you that he understood what you wanted from him. Griffon chirped shortly and while V didn’t turn his head he did listen to the bird. A frown appeared on his face but he did move to the side of the tank albeit very slowly. 

V braced himself on the edge of the tank before he pushed himself upwards. He flinched and his arms shook because of the strain and the pain he was obviously still in. You made a face, your eyes watched him with sympathy burning in them as he pushed through the pain until he managed to sit on the table, his tail wiggled leisurely from one side to the other.

You approached him with Nico following behind. V tensed when Nico approached him, though this time you assumed it was because of the materials she brought with her. She grinned at him.

“Don’t worry, buddy. You’ll be as good as new once I’m done.”

V looked at you in question but you just smiled at him and hoped it would made him feel at ease enough to let the procedure occur. What ultimately led you to reach for his hand that was clutching the edge of the table tightly you couldn’t explain, but seeing him in such distress while still being injured and in pain was hard to bear. And there was hardly anything else you could think of to do. V’s fins poking out of his wet white hair twitched as he noticed the contact. His slightly webbed fingers wrapped around your hand. You caught Nico smiling softly at you when she saw the gesture.

The examination of his wounds and the changing of the bandages went surprisingly smoothly. While V was still incredibly tense, watching every move Nico made under a scrutinizing gaze and Griffon doing the same, he did not object to anything she did. You just watched what she was doing and gently stroked the back of V’s hand with your fingers and allowed yourself to enjoy the sensation when he reciprocated the gesture.

Though there was an undeniable relief settling over V’s features when he could return into the tank, even though it was hardly a comfortable environment for him. He laid down on the bottom of it on his stomach, his head came to rest on the back of his hands. However, he did not go to sleep or even close his eyes. He was still incredibly aware of Nico and you being both in the room.

“Now that went better than expected,” Nico said after she gathered all her materials again and you both left the hall. You agreed. “You seemed to have enjoyed ya little hand-holding there quite a bit. Ya know, if ya ever need some alone time with him just tell me.”

“Nico!” you exclaimed. You felt the heat rise in your cheeks at the implications of her statement. She laughed.

“Seriously though, I gotta leave ya alone again. I have work to do. Ya got this?”

You nodded but sighed quietly. “I gotta clean the tank. He left a bit of a mess while eating. And apparently Griffon-”

“Griffon?!”

“The bird. I don’t know he either just likes them or he thinks he’s one himself, but he’s alright with being called that. Anyway, while we were having dinner Griffon brought some more fish for him to eat.”

Nico made an “Oh” sound before she put a hand on your shoulder and grinned again, “well then, have fun. But he seems to be quite trusting of ya, so I’m not worried there. I’ll be in the lab. Call for help if something happens.”

“Yeah, yeah.” You pursed your lips as Nico went to her lab with the grin still on her face, she was for sure enjoying herself. You grabbed the cleaning materials from a little storeroom and went back to the hall.

V didn’t tense when he saw you returned and you couldn’t help the little smile appearing on your lips. He followed your movements with his eyes as you leaned your cleaning stuff against the edge of the tank. You hesitated. You were a bit nervous about this because cleaning the tank meant you would have to get in it with V still being there. While you didn’t think he would do anything at all it still made you feel a bit nervous knowing that you were so close without any barrier between you.

V noticed your hesitation and the merman cautiously approached the edge of the tank, his pretty green eyes staring at you from beneath wet strands of white hair, blinking at you with a curiosity and a captivation you haven’t seen in his eyes before. The gaze lingered until you had to avert your eyes bashfully when you felt a warmth in your cheeks. A look shouldn’t have this effect on you. 

You took off your shoes and quickly grabbed your stuff to distract yourself. You put on rubber gloves (you sure as hell wouldn’t touch fish offal with your bare hands) and grabbed a little quiver to gather the waste better. You wore very short pants but the tank was still deep enough for you that your clothes would still get wet, but there was no helping it. The merman’s gaze turned to one of surprise as you sat on the edge of the tank and swung your legs over it inside of it. The water was warm, it felt nice on your skin. V didn’t avert his eyes from you at all, but he kept his distance and he observed you very closely as he had no idea what you were doing nor have you ever been this close in his personal space (although you could hardly call it that).

You got to work quickly. You used the little net to gather one piece after another, although with neither you nor the merman being completely still this proved to be a bit more difficult than anticipated. You frowned a bit as you looked at the pieces of garbage and aimed at them with the net as if they were living objects that tried to evade-

You squealed as you suddenly felt something touch your legs. Too observed in your task you almost forgot that V was in the tank right there with you. You took a deep breath to calm your racing heart and looked down. The merman was completely emerged in the water and anything but wrapped his arms and hands around your bare legs. His wet skin felt smooth, causing a tingling sensation to your own skin, it sent shivers through your body but it was far from unpleasant. You felt your skin flush at the rather intimate gesture and for a moment you completely forgot what you were doing. You just stood there in the tank, motionless, V’s webbed fingers sliding up and down your legs, poking and examining your toes and you inhaled sharply through your nose as the sensations caused goosebumps to creep up your legs despite the warm water and made your heart pump harder in your chest.

You kept your gaze on the merman. It was blurred because of the water but you still saw how his eyes were locked on your legs, how he slid his webbed fingers along the skin and over your feet, involuntarily sending shivers through your body that felt strangely nice but still felt incredibly inappropriate somehow. In the back of your mind the thought started to appear that this is not how you were supposed to react.

You tried to regain some form of control over this situation by carefully raising one of your legs and taking a step back. V’s hands remained for a moment on your leg before he let go of it (something you were grateful about deep down). V didn’t move from his spot at all as you retreated from him and when you looked at him, almost completely emerged in the water, mouth curving downwards, an almost sad glance in his eyes, you felt a sting in your heart.

Did… did he somehow feel rejected?!

The thought sounded strange to you but with the way he looked at you without attempting to approach you again it seemed to be the only explanation for his reaction. That expression, these beautiful green eyes staring at you as if you just hurt him, was hard to bear.

You sighed and let your head sink.

Without leaving the tank you placed your materials next to it, put the trash in the little bin you brought with you, took off your gloves and threw them in the trash as well. You took a deep breath just to convince yourself you didn’t make the wrong decision.

You pushed yourself onto the table, settled on the edge and let your legs dangle in the water. You still had all your stuff here with you, so you could still do some work while staying here. You raised your eyes to meet V’s, whose expression and position haven’t changed at all. You smiled at the merman and made a come hither gesture, hoping he would understand your implications.

The merman did understand you. 

In fact, he reacted right away.

And the way his eyes widened, the sad and hurtful glance in those green orbs vanished, his lips slightly parted made a warmth erupt in your chest, which probably wasn’t supposed to happen but it also felt far too nice and comfortable to fight it. So you let it happen and just smiled as V settled by your feet, leaned against the wall of the tank and his hands slowly, much more hesitant than before, returned to your legs.

You spent the rest of the day sitting on the edge of the tank, legs dangling in the water and enjoying the sensations of V sitting by your feet and sliding his webbed fingers softly up and down your legs.


	6. Making Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> V’s behavior somewhat changes and you’re a bit in denial but you’re definitely making progress~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody,
> 
> the new chapter is here! I will try to keep a weekly schedule from now on. Can't guarantee it 100% in case something unexpected happens but otherwise a new chapter will be posted every weekend 💚
> 
> Again, thank you so, so much for all your support and feedback! It makes me so happy you like this fic 💚
> 
> Enjoy 💚

The next two days passed relatively normal. At least as normal as the circumstances allowed. Nero was busy observing the area and keeping the ship safe, Nico was locked in her lab, Kyrie was so nice to cook for everybody(there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that her food tasted the best) and you spent pretty much all of your time in the hall with V. Aside from your clothes and bed you’ve transferred everything of your cabin in here, so you basically only left the hall for the bathroom, eating or sleeping.

Nico even brought an ultraviolet lamp she found in her storage room. It was old and small and needed some repairs by her and Nero but at least it worked. While the merman couldn’t sunbathe as he could outside you guessed it was better than nothing. He leaned his head on his crossed arms on the edge of the tank and just enjoyed the heat it emitted on his face.

V’s injuries were luckily healing nicely. His bruises much faster than the cuts and stab wounds but even some of those did not need further bandaging anymore. Not to mention that the dark purple and red colors on his skin were finally fading and allowed you to catch a glimpse of these faint markings on his pale skin again. He became also much more agile again now that he was healing. Him raising both arms enough so that he could lay them on the edge of the tank was possible now without making him flinch. 

It became completely normal for you to sit on the workbench with your feet dangling in the water, V sitting by your legs and almost absentmindedly sliding his hands up and down your skin.

Until something shifted.

The day started normally given your situation. You entered the hall after breakfast and allowed the smile to appear on your lips as V sat up, his head breaching the surface and his eyes searching for yours. Witnessing just how delighted he was to see you caused your heart to skip a beat, it felt nice, almost flattering.

“Morning, V!” you greeted him as you got onto the table. V made a clicking sound as he approached your spot. You dedicated a lot of time these last two days to learn how to communicate with him. At least a little bit. You both knew when you greeted each other or als V understood when you explained to him you’d be back to a certain time (sort of like you explained the clock to a little kid, showing him where the big and small hand needed to be before you came back), and by now you were certain you could learn and teach a lot more if you had the time.

Griffon wasn’t around as you noticed when you adjusted your stuff on the table. Maybe he was out to catch some food for V (you were kinda grateful about that because Nero was still persistent that you don’t go out there again, so no fishing anytime soon).

V seemed unusually impatient today. He was in front of you in the tank, his head and the top of his shoulders peeking out of the water, his tail wiggled restlessly as his green eyes watched your every move and waited for you to finally get settled. And by the time you sat down and let your legs dangle in the water he was on you. His arms and hands wrapped loosely around your legs and his body came to rest against the glass wall of the tank almost immediately. His sudden urgency was odd but nothing that bothered you, so you just took your book and began to read out loud. Apparently the merman enjoyed you reading to him quite a bit as each time you spotted visible signs of relaxation all over him; he seemed to enjoy poetry especially and you wished you had more material with you than this one anthology by William Blake.

You enjoyed the sensations as V slid his palms up and down your legs, occasionally his hair grazed your skin causing your muscles to twitch involuntarily, which always made him pull his head back to look at what just happened to your limbs. You found his slight confusion and curiosity endearing.

But then his demeanor changed. 

You frowned and your breath hitched as the touch on your legs began to feel different. He no longer slid his palms up and down your legs, instead he cupped your calf in one hand and very slowly slid the back of his fingers over your skin. You tried to ignore the shiver running down your spine, tried to deny that your breathing just got heavier, the book long forgotten, as V gently ran one finger along your leg. He followed every muscle, every bit of skin, all the way down to your toes before he slid his fingers back up to repeat the process.

It confused you. You wondered why he suddenly changed his behavior, why his touches seemed so deliberate all of a sudden, you wondered if there was an intent behind them you didn’t realize yet, with the way his gaze was locked on every bit of skin he touched, you wondered if he maybe-

The gasp that was pulled from your throat was only muffled by your hands flying up to your mouth as warm, full lips were pressed against your skin. You shivered at the sensations. The contact of his soft lips on your skin, traveling along the same path his hands and fingers did just moments before, made a warmth erupt in your chest that send a tingling feeling through your body that spread into every fiber of your being and ignited your body from the inside.

A spark of rationality cried out at your reaction in the back of your mind. A small part of you that screamed at you to stop this sudden very intimate gesture, which made you react in ways that were not appropriate. You pulled your legs up almost harshly, body heated, skin flushed, breathing heavy and you hated how difficult it was to actually pull away from him, how much your body and a huge part of your soul wanted to let him continue these intimate caresses to your skin.

And it scared you.

You stared wide-eyed and with parted lips at the merman and this time there was no doubt that he did feel hurt at your action. It felt as if someone clenched your heart painfully in your chest as you watched the merman’s sad eyes and parted lips and his attempt of raising his arms to reach for you but you were so confused and shaken because of how you reacted to him. You couldn’t find it in you to give in and return and let him continue despite a part of you crying out for you to do exactly that.

You almost stumbled over your own feet as you fled from the scene and left the hall, water dripping down your legs, the sensation of his lips on your skin lingered still. You took a few deep breaths to calm your racing heart and led yourself slide down the wall of the little hallway and buried your head in your hands.

What did just happen even?

What was he doing? Was that normal behavior? He hasn’t done this the last three days at all, so it didn’t seem like it was. But if it wasn’t… These gestures felt far too human and maybe that was what made you feel so distressed. Because for a moment you forgot that he was a mer creature, no matter how human some of his features looked, and you never expected yourself to experience something like this with him, let alone react this way.

But it felt so nice. These full, plump lips on your skin, caressing and tasting your skin…

God, what were you thinking?! You groaned in frustration.

“Okay, what happened?”

You almost flinched as Nico was suddenly in the hallway. You looked up into the woman’s questioning face. One eyebrow was raised and her lips were pursed as her hand gestured towards your barefooted and wet legs.

“I thought you were locked in your lab.” You tried to distract her, though Nico wasn’t easily distracted if it wasn’t about her work directly, so you already knew the attempt was futile. Nico raised both of her eyebrows now.

“Yeah, but I so happen to not have a galley in there,” she said and held up her hands. She held a bottle and a bag of potato chips in her hand. It made you wonder just how one would need a galley just for that. You didn’t comment on it though, this was hardly something that concerned you right now.

Nico’s gaze softened after she saw how your face fell again. She nodded towards her lab and with a sigh on your lips you followed her. Nico’s lab was the embodiment of organized chaos. You couldn’t work a single day in here with all the cluttering, all the papers, materials and machinery but you knew Nico was in total control of the situation somehow. You leaned against one of the workbenches full of notes and papers as Nico put her snacks and drink away and started checking a device that looked like a tiny fridge to you (though you doubted there was food in it).

“Now, out with it. What happened?”

You sighed and averted your gaze, absentmindedly rubbing your foot on your calf as you could still feel V’s touch lingering on your skin. You ran a hand over your face and began to tell Nico about what happened. About the last few days, about the change in V’s behavior, even his reaction after you pulled back from him.

“But ya enjoyed it?”

Your head snapped up to meet Nico’s gaze. There was no judgement or accusation in her tone, just a very genuine interest. You looked down at your feet again. Of course you did. You wanted to deny it because you shouldn’t be affected by it this way. But there was no fighting it, if not your mind then your body said it all. And there was also no denying that it hurt you to see his sad and wounded expression as you fled from him.

You nodded slightly, “but it’s wrong,” you murmured more to yourself than to Nico. She made a disapproving sound.

“What’s wrong about it?”

“He’s-”

“A merman?! Is that the only argument?” Nico interrupted, crossed her arms over her chest and raised both her eyebrows. You stayed silent for a moment. But yes. Yes, that was it. He wasn’t human, you shouldn’t be in contact with him like this. You shrugged with one shoulder and ran your hands over your face again. You hated this situation. You knew you shouldn’t do this but then your heart and body screamed at you that you wanted to do this. This was so confusing…

“Listen, girl, who cares what he is?! He has fins and can breathe underwater, so what?”

You just looked at the woman, but didn’t say anything. She continued.

“He certainly seems to be interested in ya. Girl, honestly, if ya wanna do anything with him, just go for it. No one is or ever would stop ya.”

“I… I just feel… like I shouldn’t,” you murmured. Something about this seemed just so off to you. There was no denying you liked the merman. Just in principle you could continue spending your time the way you did the last few days. Around V, reading to him, teaching him and explaining stuff to him, just enjoying how relaxing it was around him, his beautiful green eyes watching you, his webbed fingers on your skin, observing and memorizing the feel of your skin…

God, you were in trouble.

“Hey, listen, who do you think is gonna judge ya? Definitely not me. If I met a creature like him who’s got the hots for me I’d be all over the fella in a second. And Nero and Kyrie?! Nero is not completely human himself. For all I know the guy can take on a full fucking demon form. And no one else has to know, ya know?!”

“True, I guess, but-”

“Tzz, no but. Just get back in there and see what happens. Let him have fun with ya legs.”

“Nico…”

The woman laughed, “I’m serious though. There’s nothing wrong with any of that,” she added then. You sighed again. Maybe she was right but…

“Ya know, I think ya need a little push.”

“What do you mean- Nico!!”

You anything but squealed in surprise as Nico grabbed your shoulders and pushed you out of the lab. You had to hand it to her that she was astoundingly strong as she pushed you down the hallway and it took anything in you to not stumble and fall.

“Nico, come on, this is ridiculous!”

“Nah, ya’ll be grateful. Just ya wait.”

You made another sound as Nico gave you a good shove and pushed you back into the hall. You ungracefully stumbled into the huge room but before you caught your balance again the door was shut behind you and Nico was gone again.

Does she know this hall has two doors?! you thought to yourself as you raised both of your eyebrows and looked at the closed door.

“Ya can thank me later.” You heard Nico’s voice before her footsteps started to fade. You exhaled heavily through your nose and contemplated what to do. You could just walk out of the second door again.

Or you could stay.

You dared to take a look at the tank and you couldn’t help but feel bad for the merman. V half lay, half sat in the corner of the tank the furthest away from you, his body and head completely emerged in the water, only some strands of his white hair floated atop the surface. His hands lay limply at his side, his tail occasionally twitched. If his green eyes weren’t instantly on you you would’ve assumed he was sleeping. His expression hurt, you couldn’t deny that. The curve of his eyebrows, the lack of his usual delightful glance in his eyes when he saw you, the line of his mouth… you running from him really did something to him.

You bit the inside of your cheek as you very slowly approached the tank again. The nagging doubt that you shouldn’t be indulging in this still made you hesitant but seeing him like this and remembering how his skin felt on yours earlier, what sensations his touch caused inside of you, made your legs move almost on their own accord.

Your heart beat in your chest hard enough that you were scared it would just burst out of your ribcage. You weren’t sure what you were doing but maybe the doubt was still strong enough to keep you from resuming your former position. So instead you kneeled in front of the tank and laid your forearms on the edge of it. Your hands were trembling a bit as they came into contact with the cool and slightly wet glass of the tank.

“V,” you called out quietly. He looked at you but barely reacted. You exhaled heavily again before you slowly reached out one of your hands in his direction.

“Come here… please.” You weren’t sure if he understood you, but he recognized the gesture. It was the very same one when you first came into real contact with him. When he inspected your non-webbed fingers with a curiosity and wonder that took your breath away. Though this time he hesitated for much longer, but after a long moment V pushed himself off the wall behind him and very slowly and cautiously approached you again.

He stopped when he was right out of reach. And just like on that day near the island his eyes switched between yours and your hand. Your arm was still slightly trembling and your heart was racing in your chest, you had absolutely no idea what to expect. And then very slowly he raised his hands. Your breath got caught in your throat as his wet hands cradled your hand. There was no firm or rough grip on your wrist such as on that day, just a careful touch that almost felt like a caress. The merman inched the slightest bit closer to you, close enough so your fingertips could brush his face. You inhaled sharply as the touch on your hand got more firm and V pulled it closer to his face. You stared with your open mouth and wide eyes as V parted his lips and pressed them to your fingers. You couldn’t describe the shiver running down your spine, couldn’t fathom the warmth this incredibly intimate gesture caused but you felt deep down that a bit more of your doubt and inhibitions were erased from your mind.

This didn’t feel wrong.

This just felt nice.

And when his lips and hands left your own hand he inched even closer to the edge of the tank. You didn’t pull back, only slowly retreated your arm, and simply watched as his beautiful green eyes came closer and closer. You could feel your heartbeat in your throat, could feel the nervous tingling in your body and you were grateful that you were already kneeling or else you were afraid you might get dizzy.

Your breath left your parted lips in heavy puffs as the merman raised one of his hands again from the water and softly touched your face with his fingertips. The touch was so soft, so light as if you were something delicate and he could break you, if he applied too much pressure. And again you wondered just how and why his demeanor suddenly shifted. He just seemed so curious and intrigued before, but all of these gestures now were far too deliberate, far too intimate to be innocent wonder.

You gasped quietly as his fingers slid over your cheek, down your jaw and finally touched your lips. At this point your heart was beating hard enough that you feared it might just stop altogether and one of your hands clenched the edge of the tank tightly just to keep you grounded somehow. You stared at his face, so close to your own now, how his glistening green eyes were focused on his fingers on your lips and it took everything in you to hold still and not kiss his fingers. You studied his features, how these dazzling green eyes were covered by a glance you couldn’t identify, how the water slid down his sharp features, how his supple lips were slightly parted just like yours…

You didn’t realize that you leaned forwards. You didn’t notice that his fingers left your lips.

And then there was an incredible softness on your lips. You could barely comprehend what you just did, you only caught green eyes blinking before your eyes slid close and you gave into these sensations coursing through your body. V’s lips were warm and supple against yours, not moving but not pulling away either. This barest of pressure on your lips caused a warmth inside your body that made every nerve in your body come alive and setting your body and soul on fire from the inside out. You exhaled heavily through your nose as one shaky hand reached out to touch his face. You cupped his cheek, his damp hair sliding between your fingers as you stroked the smooth skin. The contact sent another tingling sensation through your body and at this point you were afraid you’d get dizzy because of the overwhelming feeling of it all.

This couldn’t be wrong.

This felt too amazing. And right.

V barely moved, you just felt his heavy breath fanning over your face and there was the slightest twitch of his lips as if he didn’t know what to do and you wondered despite him pressing kisses to your skin elsewhere if a proper kiss was something unknown to him or if he was simply inexperienced. You had no idea about mer creature’s social lives after all.

You broke the kiss with the gasp and you felt your heart skipping a beat as V leaned forwards as if to chase the contact. You pulled your hand back slowly too, leaned both arms back on the edge of the tank and you stared with parted lips at the merman. You panted quietly as your mind and body struggled to calm down and to keep these sensations under control because oh, you wanted to dive back in and kiss him again. You couldn’t believe how much everything in you screamed out for more contact.

Maybe Nico was right. Maybe there’s truly nothing wrong with it at all. It certainly didn’t feel like it. Nor were you in any condition to fight it anymore.

You smiled at V, still panting, chest still heaving, but the smile was happy and genuine.

The merman smirked.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Okay, will ya tell me what exactly happened before I came here?” Nico asked with a huge grin on her face as she witnessed the little scene in front of her. Over the last few days V has gotten far more cooperative when it came to changing his bandages. When he saw Nico with her materials and you taking your stuff away from the workbench he got out of the tank by himself and sat on the table. Though right now he was showcasing how he didn’t really have a sense of privacy after your kiss earlier.

He constantly tried to touch your skin, reaching out to grab your hands and pull them to his lips, or kiss you by leaning forwards in an attempt to catch your lips with his. At least this proved to you that this form of affection was not completely foreign to him. It still was not appropriate right now. Not as long as Nico was around. Not to mention not as long as she was changing the bandages or taking them off the wounds who have healed by now.

You groaned when you managed to catch his wrists in your hands, though the smirk the merman threw at you was way too playful, way too mischievous for you to feel safe from his hands(he was probably far stronger than his lean body led you to believe).

“We were just kissing!” You groaned again.

“Just kissing?!” Nico laughed, “well at least ya finally accepted it. Not gonna lie ya both look quite content.”

You stared at the woman who was enjoying the hell out of this situation if her grin was any indication. You raised your eyebrow at her and opened your mouth. Though instead of words you let out a small squeal as lips were pressed to your temple. You still held V’s wrists in your hands but didn’t pay attention to his face for a moment. He exploited that moment by leaning forwards and kissing your skin again.

He’s smart, you had to give him credit for that.

Nico laughed now, “Ya know, maybe he’s in some sort of mating season and that’s why he’s acting so odd right now. Or, at least compared to before.”

You stared at her and for a moment you just blinked, completely silent otherwise. For all you knew that could be a possibility. There was so little you knew about mer creatures so far. He could be like humans in that regard, or like seasonal breeders. You needed far more info to say for sure. But sure, that was a possible explanation for his behavior. That also implied though that-

“Just so ya know, I won’t be in here tonight and tough guy and Kyrie won’t come here either anyway. I just wanted ya to know that.”

You felt your blood rush to your cheeks and with a sigh you let your head hang, too embarrassed to look either one into the eyes. V made a clicking sound, it sounded like a question, he probably wondered about your sound and reaction and with another sigh you looked up at him into his inquiring eyes. You shook your head and smiled slightly. He seemed to understand your answer and this time, as he leaned his head forward, his cheek brushing yours, you let him. You just allowed the tender touch which gave the impression of a comforting gesture. 

Nico didn’t comment on it.


	7. No Place for Doubts - NSFW

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You can’t sleep and eventually make up your mind~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody,
> 
> the new chapter is here 💚 And we're officially get to the spicy part. For now at least 😄
> 
> Thank you all so much for your lovely feedback on the last chapter! It makes my day to hear you enjoy reading the fic 💚
> 
> I hope you like it!
> 
> Enjoy! 💚🌹

It was getting later and later and yet you turned from one side to the other but without hope of getting any sleep anytime soon. You were wide awake, not to mention that your mind was still way too occupied to relax enough to allow sleep to get you.

Whenever you closed your eyes your thoughts drifted off again and the only thing on your mind were green eyes, pale skin, fins and the feeling of webbed fingers and soft lips on your skin. You buried your face into your pillow as your heartbeat accelerated just at the thought of the merman. After your inhibitions to seek out this contact were gone there was just no resisting anymore. You gave in when V approached you, when your legs dangled in the water and he wanted to feel and caress them, when his lips seeked out your skin. You accepted your mind’s and body’s reactions but that only ended in you tossing and turning on your bed, frustrated and unable to find rest.

You sighed exasperatedly and stayed in your bed for a moment longer before making a decision. You just hoped you wouldn’t regret that later.

You changed from your PJs into your bikini, a top and shorts because it would just be your luck to run into someone, even in the dead of night, but no one had to see you in your old PJs.

You made your way to the hall quickly, your toes tapping on the wooden floor, the sounds of the environment filling the otherwise quiet night. By the time you slipped quietly into the hall you actually noticed just how fast your heart was beating. You took a deep breath to calm you down a bit before taking a look around.

It was rather dark in the hall, barely enough to see and to walk around properly. Only the pale moonlight illuminated the room a bit through the windows. The moon lighted up the water’s almost calm surface in the tank, giving it an almost silvery glow.

You approached the tank as quietly as possible. Given the lack of movement of the water you assumed V was asleep. And you were right. The merman was lying on the bottom of the tank on his side, his head on his arm, occasionally his tail twitched but he was fast asleep. You couldn’t imagine that this position was comfortable in any way. You would love to see and know how he slept in his actual environment. 

You exhaled heavily through your nose and sat down in front of the tank and just watched him for a moment, contemplating whether or not you should wake him, but waking him seemed cruel to you. Just because you couldn’t sleep and thought about him way too much didn’t mean you should rob him of his sleep. He probably needed it.

The decision was made for you when the merman stirred slowly. You wondered if it was a instinctual reaction. Like his senses and instincts telling him that he wasn’t alone anymore and he should make sure he was still safe. His tail made some waving up and down motions as if he shook the sleep away from his body this way. He raised his upper body, leaning on the arm his head rested on before and sleepily looked around. You smiled at how he ran a hand through his hair, trying to tame the flowing strands in the water and how he blinked confused why he woke up in the middle of the night. 

His gaze finally settled on you and again he simply blinked at you, confused and sleepy as you’ve never been around at this time before. He still looked a bit lost even after the sleep slowly faded from his body. Though with a slight swing from his tail he approached the wall of the tank. You rose to your knees when V breached the surface and leaned his arms on the edge of the tank and looked at you. He made a clicking sound, the one you came to know as greeting, though the tilt of his head revealed the unspoken question of wanting to know why you were here. He didn’t seem to be angry or bothered by being awake now though.

“Hey,” you said quietly and the nervous feeling returned, the way your heart started pumping in your chest as you stared into his green eyes, covered by a silvery layer as the moonlight reflected in them. It made you only now realize just how almost ethereal he looked right now. The drops of water on his body glistening in the silvery light, the faint markings on his skin having a slight glow to them, his white hair looked even more shiny.

He was so beautiful.

Your hands were slightly shaking as you reached out to him and his skin felt colder than usual because he hasn’t sunbathed in quite a while, but it still was incredibly soft beneath your fingers as you cradled his cheek with one hand, his little fin ears twitched when your fingertips brushed them. You weren’t really sure what you were going for or what your intentions truly were but you knew you wanted his company right now, to feel his skin underneath yours and to taste and feel his lips again, circumstances didn’t matter, doubts had no place here right now.

And when V leaned over the edge of the tank you met him halfway. 

V’s lips against yours were so incredibly soft, his skin underneath your fingers so incredibly smooth that the sensations of it just caused spark of heat and yearning for more inside of you. Your hands buried themselves in his wet white hair as your lips moved more urgently against his as the contact sent shivers through your body that seemingly ignited your skin from the inside out. You moaned softly against his mouth as the feelings were too much to keep them inside. V reciprocated the kiss, moving his lips against yours before one hand came to touch your neck, webbed fingers almost cautiously curled at the back of your neck, the water from his skin dripping onto your top. You pressed your lips against his more eagerly at the gesture, something he hasn’t done before after all, but it made every nerve in your body scream for more contact. You desperately wanted to taste him, to touch his tongue with yours and deepen the kiss, but the prospect of piercing your tongue on his sharp teeth kept you from opening your mouth to even try.

You broke the kiss after what felt like an eternity. When you parted from the merman’s lips you gasped for breath, your chest heaved in an attempt to control your breathing and racing heart, and you stared with swollen and parted lips as V’s fingers still lingered on your skin, a sole finger traveled from your neck to your cheek to trace the contours of your lips.

And within a heartbeat he leaned further forwards. You caught a glimpse of green before his eyes vanished from view and his full lips came into contact with your jaw. You gasped quietly at the unexpected contact, your hands clenching the edge of the tank tightly as he slid his lips over your jaw, down your neck to taste the skin there. You just held onto the tank and gasped quietly before you pulled back a bit, your cheeks flushed, your body trembling.

You truly hoped you wouldn’t regret it later on but right now you just listened to what your heart and body wanted and longed for. Your heart was beating in your throat as you rose to your feet, all under V’s watchful eyes, and you pulled your top over your head and slipped out of your shorts until you were left only in your bikini. Your legs felt shaky and you were sure your heart would burst out of your chest any second, but still you felt a sense of pride mixing in with the nervousness as V’s eyes slid up and down your body, his lips barely parting in the process.

You exhaled through your mouth to calm down a bit, though your attempt was futile when your hands grabbed the edge of the tank and you slowly swung one leg over it. The warm water felt nice, soothing almost when you entered the tank and felt it engulf your body. The merman looked over his shoulder and up at you in awe and wonder but there was something else in those green orbs, something that went beyond curiosity and that hid much more than just an interest in you because you were something he’s never seen before.

And it excited you.

V turned around, leaned his back slightly against the wall behind him and looked up at you. His eyes, still reflecting the moonlight, the glistening drops of water on his lean body, his parted lips, the way he reached up his arms to you, wanting and inviting you. The sight was absolutely breathtaking and it sent a wave of heat through your body that gathered straight in your core. If there still was a point of return you didn’t want it. You were as nervous as you were excited as you didn’t know what to expect from this or how it would go, but you wanted this. You wanted him. Everything else was not relevant right now.

Your breath left your opened lips in heavy puffs as you carefully lowered yourself into the water, your legs on either side of his tail as if you sat in his lap, but you didn’t put pressure on his tail as you didn’t know if it could handle your weight. V’s hands were on you immediately. His webbed fingers settled on your hips and the contact caused a shiver to course through your body. 

You gasped when V leaned forwards almost in a hurry and his lips latched onto the skin of your neck. You trembled in front of him when his full, supple lips slid along the soft skin and you couldn’t suppress the moan when his tongue appeared from between his lips to taste the skin there. The merman seemed to like the sound you just made as a sound left him close to a purr against your neck and the grip on your hips just got a bit tighter. 

Your hands found refuge on his shoulders as he dragged his open mouth along your skin and you gasped breathlessly when his sharp teeth came into contact with the soft flesh, threatening to break the skin if he so desired. A breathless moan escaped your lips when he began to suck on the thin skin of your collarbones and your hips pushed down against his on their own accord, seeking out any kind of friction to the heat and throbbing that started to become hard to ignore. V groaned, a sound you haven’t heard from him before, and he pulled you closer by the hips until you couldn’t help but sit on his lap, before his lips devoured your skin anew. You just held on for dear life, gasping and moaning as his lips and tongue slid along your skin, every suck and bite a threat to break the sensitive skin, and the pressure and need for more just grew inside of you. 

With trembling hands you reached up behind you to loosen the knot and to take the top of your bikini away from you, revealing more of your body to his clouded eyes. You just craved and needed more. More of his skin on yours, more of these supple lips caressing your body, more of-

You gasped when V’s hands and lips accepted the invitation and settled on your breasts, your hands diving into his wet hair as his lips sucked and his hands roughly kneaded the flesh. You inhaled sharply through your nose when the need and desire to taste his skin became too much and you buried your face in the crook of his neck, giving his marked skin the same attention he was giving yours. In the back of your mind the thought occurred to you just how surprising it was that he knew what to do, that just going by the caresses of his hands and mouth there really was no difference to another human. Just his-

The sudden upwards thrust of his tail along with the deep moan that spilled over his lips caught you off guard and you wrapped your arms around his shoulders with a choked moan as the sensations sent waves of incredible heat through your body that only left the throbbing between your legs even worse. You needed more. You pushed your hips down against his, desperate for more contact, for more friction.

You could feel it now. Now that you couldn’t control yourself anymore, now that your hips rolled slowly against his just to gain some sort of relief to that overwhelming pressure.

There was a hardness pressing against your thigh, needy and hot, and it made you moan again. You couldn’t believe how worked up you already were. How much these gestures and touches affected you. And still, your body and soul just screamed for more. Every nerve in your body seemed to be alive ignited your very being from the inside out, threatening to consume you. 

V nibbled your skin, the feel of his teeth coming into contact with your skin caused a thrilling sensation that made your breath get caught in your throat and made your skin tingle deliciously, the sensations seemingly traveling over your skin and wandering straight to your core. You let your own lips wander over the parts of his body that were not covered by the water and allowed your hands to trace over his muscles, following the markings on his skin blindly as you breathed and sighed against his skin. 

The merman groaned again as the hardness below your hips slid along your clothed folds, his body trembled in your arms and you pulled your lips away from him with a breathless moan. You couldn’t help but look down, curiosity as much as the desire to see him won over you. The water and the lack of proper lighting obscured most of the view, but your hand was already reaching out before your mind was capable of catching up. The broken moan that spilled over V’s lips as your hand touched his cock was so sensual and so intense that the sound alone brought you closer to your end. Your shaking fingers wrapped around his cock and you stroke him slowly and carefully a few times. It didn’t feel much different. It got thicker closer to the base, but it had a texture to it. It wasn’t smooth, easy to slide your skin along it because of the water, but there were little ridges around it, very subtle but noticeable as your fingers slid along them. You closed your eyes as for a moment as your mind filled itself with the thoughts of how it would feel inside of you.

The merman’s tail jerked upwards into your hands, purr-like clicking sounds escaped his throat as you stroked him and for a second you thought he was gonna actually bite you with the way his open mouth pressed against your shoulder.

His touches and movements seemed to become more hurried and insisting then. There was an urgency in the way his hands grasped your hips again, how his fingers dug into your skin, in how his mouth moved against your skin, how his own hips movements became more rapidly.

You moaned again, your body shuddering against V’s as he pulled a bit of the skin of your neck into his mouth, his sharp teeth teasing it, and sucked harshly on it. You were sure that at this point your body was covered in marks and love bites and if you weren’t already so gone and lost in the pleasure of it all you probably would’ve cared about it. But it didn’t matter now. All that mattered were you and him and these blissful sensations that brought you closer and closer to your ends.

You gasped as you forced your hand away from his cock and tried to get rid of the lower part of your bikini, your own need and desperation now making you impatient. You needed him. Now. You had to retreat a bit from him for it but V’s hands and lips were all over you again as soon as you were within reach again. 

The merman’s hands settled on your hips once more, his webbed fingers almost bruisingly dug into your skin as you wrapped one arm around his neck and braced yourself on his shoulder with the other. A needy moan erupted from your throat, which turned into a breathless whimper, when his cock slid against your bare folds. The merman trembled in your arms, his tail wriggled beneath you in an attempt to seek out more of this wonderful friction, but you had no patience left to drag this out any longer anyway.

The moan that escaped your lips when you sank onto him and finally let him slide into you was full of want, unrestrained and obscene, but you didn’t care one bit and neither did V. You just let every moan and whimper spill over your lips as you took him in, as his cock stretched you the lower you sank down on him, as you felt every single bump slide along your walls. You whimpered breathlessly when he was seated fully inside of you, though the sound was drowned in the growl that rumbled from deep within V’s chest and you could feel vibrate against your chest.

Finally.

It was hard to comprehend, even less so in your dazed mind, that he was really inside of you, not even a day ago you never could’ve imagined that but now it was everything you wanted.

You wrapped your trembling arms around his neck to hold onto him as V started to push up into you. Despite your position he took complete control over you and your movements. His hands digging into your hips, guiding them, his tail rolling up against you. It felt incredible. Every slide of his cock filling you, stroking your walls, the scales of his tail rubbing against your clit every time your hips met his, you almost felt dizzy lost in these intense sensations.

The merman looked at you for a second, eyes covered by an undeniable desire for you, full lips parted, low sighs and groans spilling over them. You couldn’t help yourself. With a deep moan that never left your lips, you caught his lips with yours. The kiss was sloppy, an entanglement of tongues and lips and the threat of razor sharp teeth, his thrusts of his tail never ceased and pressed yourself closer to him at the blinding pleasure coursing through your body.

V broke the kiss, a strangled moan escaping his lips that set your nerves on fire and stole your breath away as you brushed his gills with your arms when you tightened your arms around him. The merman shuddered against you, for a moment the rolls of his tail against you lost any sense of restraint and control he may have had before and all you could do was to hold on as he pushed you mercilessly closer to your climax.

You brushed his gills again, on purpose this time, and it seemed to be a turning point for V.

The movements of his hips, the undulations of his tail against you became faster, harder, almost erratically. His cock slid in and out of you, rubbing you in just the right way, the texture of his scales rubbed your clit each time, igniting your nerves and making you arch against him.

There was a desperation behind V’s movements as he chased his end, and knowingly or not, pushed you closer to yours with each roll against you, his thrusts inside of you, each time he touched your clit. It was almost feral, desperate and urgent. And it felt amazing.

You gasped and moaned breathlessly as you clung to him, your skin tingling, the pressure building, pushing you closer and closer to that blissful feeling…

V’s lips latched onto your skin again, sucking, nibbling on your skin as you trembled, your legs quivering and your shaking hands grabbed his hair again, trying to keep yourself grounded in some way and not completely losing yourself in these overwhelming sensations and emotions.

Your end rushed over you suddenly and unexpectedly.

Maybe it was a certain undulation, the way he nibbled on your neck again, his tail rubbing against your clit, but suddenly you were clenching around him. You threw your head back, a strangled moan that turned into a whimper left your lips as this wave of unending and blissful pleasure washed over you. Your body tensed and spasmed in his lap, your nerves screaming out in these sensations of bliss and satisfaction as you clung to the merman.

V chased his own end. His movements and touches never ceased through your orgasm, unknowingly prolonging it for as long as possible. He groaned low in his throat as you clenched around his cock, his lips pressed against your shoulder before instincts took completely over. His tail moved wildly against you, desperate thrusts in and out of you, fast, rough and unrestrained until he moaned, deep and sensual, a sound that in itself almost prolonged your climax and he shuddered against you. His hips twitched against yours and his body quivered as you felt a heat inside of you. He filled you for what felt like an eternity, just spasming and trembling against you, pants and gasps fanning over the skin that was above the surface.

It was a moment that seemingly lasted forever. Just both of you catching your breaths, lost in the sensations and aftermath of bliss and pleasure. The grip on your hips eased after a long while and you lifted your hips just enough to let him slip out of you, but you lowered yourself on his lap again, unwilling to let this moment end just yet.

You wrapped your arms loosely around his shoulders and buried your face in the crook of his neck, mindful of his gills. Maybe it was because you were still trapped in the aftermath of these past sensations but you felt a pleasant warmth and delightful tingling feeling spreading through your body as the merman reciprocated the gesture and wrapped his arms around you, his webbed fingers settling on the skin of your back. You simply stayed like this for a while, embracing and the warm water calming down around you again.

V made a few clicking sounds after a while, you just wished you could understand what he was saying. But when you leaned back to look into his eyes he wore the same smirk on his lips you’ve already come to know, so at least you knew he said nothing bad.

You pressed your lips against his again, the desire to feel them against yours again simply too much for you to bear and also, it didn’t matter anymore after what just occurred between the two of you. The kiss was slower, much calmer than before, just your lips moving against each other, no tongue, no teeth, just his full lips against yours. When you pulled back you sighed contently. V’s lips curved upwards again before his eyes travelled lower and he raised one of his hands. You inhaled deeply through your nose as a sole finger softly poked your neck before it slid a path along your neck and shoulders. But when the smirk appeared on his features once more there was a much more devilish glance in his eyes, something much more mischievous and the thought appeared in the back of your mind that the touch on your neck and shoulders just now was not random. You couldn’t wait to look into a mirror… 

You remained in this position for a while longer until you intended on getting out of the tank and attempted to move away from the merman, but hands on your thighs stopped you. You looked at V, a silent question in your eyes which he probably realized without any other communication. He smirked again before his webbed fingers slid up your skin again and settled on your hips once more.

You bit the inside of your cheek at the implication but already felt a tingling sensation from the way he held your hips in his grasp.

You guessed this was gonna be a sleepless night after all.


	8. Going Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> V's wounds are almost completely healed. And that means~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody,
> 
> sorry for the kinda late update but by the time AO3 was up again yesterday I was already asleep ><
> 
> Anyway, here is the new chapter! I hope you enjoy! <3

You groaned as you mopped the floor of the hall before anyone could see this mess. It looked like the room had been flooded, though the actual reason for why it looked that way brought the heat back to your cheeks. This truly happened after all. It was still hard to believe but your neck and shoulder being covered in dark red and purple marks was more than enough proof. Absentmindedly your hand reached up to touch the marks on your neck. You couldn’t wait for Nico to see them… There was not even a chance of hiding all of them. Just wearing a scarf would end up with Nico taking it off because it was just too suspicious, and a scarf probably wasn’t able to cover them all up properly.

You looked over to the merman. V watched you with a serene look on his face. His chin rested on top of his hands, which he laid on the edge of the tank, the tips of his spiny fin on his back gently moved with the leisured up and down movements of his tail, the huge turquoise fin at its end occasionally breached the water’s surface. Griffon has returned again as well. The little bird creature brought V some food earlier and had a longer conversation with the merman, before he settled on the workbench and rested there.

You yawned and leaned against the stick of the mop. By the time V let you leave it was almost dawn already again, so you barely got any sleep. Not that you were complaining, far the opposite in fact, but that still didn’t mean you weren’t tired now.

“Okay, what happened here?”

“Oh, come on, it doesn’t look that bad,” you countered without turning around to Nico as she entered the hall. You knew she was teasing but there still was barely any water left to get rid of. You were glad she didn’t come here an hour ago… or even earlier.

Nico laughed and you heard her footsteps approaching you and you already braced yourself for her reaction.

“Woah, woah, woah, girl! What the hell happened to ya?!” she turned your around by grabbing your shoulders and you pursed your lips as you looked to the side, unable to meet her face.

“Looks like a freaking demon tried to eat ya,” she commented while she inspected the dark patches on your skin before a mischievous grin broke out on her face, “I wanna know everything.”

“Forget it.” You tried to glare at her but the blush on your cheeks ruined any chance of looking serious or intimidating. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, grinned at you before she looked over her shoulder at V.

“Look at his shit-eating grin,” she said and when you looked past her you saw V smirking at you again. He knew exactly what was going on between you and Nico right now and he enjoyed the scene immensely, even if he couldn’t understand your words. But Nico laughing at you, looking at your skin, the red color on your face, it wasn’t hard to see what was going on.

“Guess he’s quite happy about marking his territory.” This time Nico laughed wholeheartedly, she just bursted out laughing, though the implications of her statement filled you with as much embarrassment as much as it sent a shiver down your spine, there was something rather thrilling in the hidden implications of these words.

“Alright, alright,” said Nico after a while, attempted to catch her breath again and she rubbed the tears in the corners of her eyes away before she took another deep breath, “in all seriousness though, I wanted to tell ya that if the rest of his wounds look okay that he can return today.”

Your face almost fell.

You knew this moment would come and you were glad he could finally get out of this uncomfortable little tank. But still, you have almost gotten used to having him here and around you all the time.

“Hey, just means that ya gotta get into your boat again.”

“If Nero lets me that is of course.”

“Oh he will. He needs to get the stick out of his ass and stop worrying so much.”

You chuckled. Ultimately she was right. If V wasn’t here anymore then you would just have to seek him out again out there. If he wanted to and let you of course. You still didn’t really know about mer creature’s social lives, so you wouldn’t know how he would act and continue living once he was free again. But so far nothing indicated that he would not want to see you again after this.

At least you hoped so.

“I have something to check up on in the lab, then I’ll come back to take a look at him again,” Nico said. You nodded. The woman winked at you and you just shook your head to which she laughed again before she left the hall.

You sighed once she was gone and quickly finished mopping the floor, before you joined Griffon on the workbench and let your legs dangle in the water, maybe for the last time. The little ear fins peeking out from beneath the damp white hair twitched as the merman left his position by the edge of the tank and approached you. He braced himself on the table and pushed himself far enough out of the water so that you barely had to lean down to meet him to kiss you. It was short, barely more than a sweet little peck on the lips but it made you smile even more so.

He lowered himself back into the tank and sat on the bottom of it. The merman leaned his cheek against your legs, close to your knees and enclosed them with his arm, his webbed fingers stroked softly along the skin, following the lines of your muscles and tracing the shape of your toes. You inhaled sharply when his fingers were once again replaced with his lips but you relaxed just as quickly again. At this point you could hardly believe just how stupid you were beforehand that you let these doubts get to you so much.

“You know,” you started to get his attention and waited until green eyes looked up at you, “if your wound looks fine today we can bring you outside again.”

Griffon next to you jumped a little in surprise, tilted his head before directing his attention to V to translate what you just said. You smiled softly as you watched how V’s eyes widened, how his eyebrows rose a bit, how his lip barely parted. He looked at you without making a sound but an expression that screamed “really?”. You chuckled but nodded and cradled his face in your hands when he pushed himself up to you again. His lips pressed against yours softly, not a lot of pressure and just your lips on his. You appreciated it so much that kisses were either something not uncommon for mer creatures or that he just understood that they made you happy because oh, these supple lips felt and tasted amazing.

“Get a room you two.”

Nico’s sudden words made you flinch. The kiss was broken and V retreated back into the tank, though he stayed close to you, he’s gotten much more relaxed around Nico.

“It’s not like we don’t have one.” You grinned at Nico as she approached you with her usual materials when she wanted to remove or change V’s bandages. You pulled your legs out of the water and got down from the workbench to leave room for V. The merman got the hint right away. He pushed himself out of the water and took your place on the table while Griffon turned around to observe what you were doing to V with his multiple yellow eyes.

“Alright. Let’s see then,” Nico said and carefully started to remove the bandages of the very few wounds that still covered his body. The merman looked at what Nico was doing for a moment before his attention turned to you again. He lifted one of his hands to your shoulder and softly poked one of the dark purple marks on your skin before he trailed his fingers along them all over your neck and collarbones. There was a glance in his deep green eyes that spoke of pride and satisfaction. It was as if he was admiring his handiwork and it made you wonder if Nico’s earlier words may have been true, if these marks were something more to him than just love bites.

“Ya know, ya look like he literally tried to eat ya but failed miserably or ya had the time of your life last night,” Nico commented the little scene. There was a heat rushing to your face again, but it didn’t bother you as much this time around, you were much more distracted by V still dragging his fingers along your skin.

“Still though, looks like he marked ya pretty good there. Guess you’re his mate now.”

“Nico!”

“What? That’s what it looks like. About it being possible, biologically, socially and all, is something else buuuut…” Nico shrugged, but there was no grin on her face. She was serious about this. You looked at V, whose eyes were still fixated on the skin of your neck. If Nico was right, and she usually was, then you’ve gotten yourself into quite a predicament. Not really in the end of course, you just needed to stay on the ship and you could avoid all contact with him, but that was the last thing you wanted.

The merman leaned forwards, leaned his head into the crook of your neck and you made a sound in the back of your throat when his lips came into contact with the soft skin. Nico chuckled.

“V!” you exclaimed when he seriously started to kiss your skin again and pushed his shoulders a bit. He seriously had no idea about the appropriateness of such gestures. Or it was just a totally different thing for mer creatures. But still.

He pulled back from you and blinked at you. There was no hurt in his eyes just a genuine curiosity why you pushed him away right now, and you almost gave in again (and you would have if Nico hasn’t been around). You looked at Griffon.

“Can you translate it for me, buddy?” you asked and smiled slightly when the bird nodded.

“Not right now, okay? Later, when we’re alone again,” you told V, even though you had no idea when that would be, but the merman nodded in understanding after Griffon’s chirps filled the air. You offered him a smile.

“Nooow that looks almost as good as new!” Nico exclaimed suddenly and you followed her gaze to just below V’s ribs. The cut has healed nicely - luckily! - but there was still a dark purple bruise on his pale skin. How Nico could call that as good as new didn’t quite make sense to you, but at least that was his last remaining wound.

“Guess that means, ya are gonna be as free as a bird again, buddy.” Nico grinned at the merman and after Griffon translated the words to him there was an expression of delight on his face. And you could understand him. Finally getting out of that small, empty tank which wasn’t meant to hold a creature such as him in the first place. V never seemed unhappy in the tank, and you hoped that just maybe you contributed to that, but since he got here he couldn’t even swim properly. You imagined it to be similar to being on a plane for a long time, with the only chance to walk was to use the bathroom occasionally. It was time he got out there again. And you would just follow him with the boat.

“Actually, there’s nothing stopping us from doing this right now.” Nico looked at you and you sighed quietly but agreed. There was no need for dragging this out any longer. And you couldn’t deny the excitement of the prospect of seeing V in his natural environment again, peeking out from the water’s surface, sunbathing on the rocks, swimming around and appearing in front of you suddenly, and not seeing the dull metallic walls of this hall around him.

“Gonna get tough guy. He’s gonna love this,” Nico said and already left the hall with furrowed brows. Oh right… you needed to get V to the boat somehow. You wondered if he would let Nero carry him though.

Nero entered the hall with raised eyebrows and his demonic arm scratching the back of his head. There was a tension all over V when he saw the man, a wariness that made him stare at him with a scrutinizing gaze, especially since Nico didn’t come back with him.

Nero sighed, “Nico is on deck getting the boat ready,” he said as he approached you and V, “alright, let’s just get this over with. This is awkward enough as it is,” he grumbled then and you furrowed your brows as he made an attempt to pick the merman up. V flinched back, the spiny fin on his back flared up in a defensive gesture and his lips parted to reveal his sharp front teeth that made you widen your eyes for a moment. You didn’t expect such a reaction from him but then again it shouldn’t surprise you probably. He has never seen Nero before, if at all only from afar while he tried to make you leave, but there was literally no reason for him to trust him yet. Not to mention that Nero’s demonic arm was probably not a factor to calm the merman down.

You took a deep breath but put a hand on V’s shoulder, stroking the damp skin softly, “it’s okay, V. He’ll get you outside,” you told him and you were grateful when Griffon chirped and flew upwards. The look in V’s eyes as Griffon explained what was happening to him couldn’t be described as anything else but displeased. The frown on his face was deep, but the ridge on his spine calmed down and his lips formed a straight line. He didn’t protest again when Nero moved in again and picked him up. Griffon actually landed on your head as you followed the half-demon out of the hall and made sure to stay in V’s field of vision to keep him calm enough to just let Nero carry him quickly.

Nero mumbled something under his breath the whole time, though you were distracted by the expression of awe and delight on V’s face when you entered the deck and the sunlight hit his face for the first time in nearly a week.

Nico was waiting for you at the boat and she grinned when she saw Nero’s grumpy face. The man seemed relieved when he could put V down again, but he was also incredibly careful and considerate. He may have seemed grumpy but he didn’t want any harm to come to the merman either. The night when you guys found him was more than enough proof you ever needed to confirm that.

V made some clicking sounds and pulled his tail as close as possible in the small boat, it almost made it look like he was pulling his knees up to his chest. The merman looked around curiously and even though he saw the ocean below him, he was smart enough not to jump blindly into it. You entered the boat as well and sat across from him, Griffon was still sitting on your head.

“Damn, buddy, guess see ya around then. Don’t get attacked again out there,” Nico said with an almost sad smile on her lips.

“You think you have enough samples of him?” you countered with a grin. She gave you a grin of her own again.

“Trust me, I have enough stuff of him to last probably half a lifetime.” She laughed. You shook your head, but the chuckle still left your lips. V looked between the two of you a bit confused but he also seemed to be extremely interested in how you talked to each other.

“Be careful, please. We know there’s stuff out there and some of the stuff that flies around here at night is not friendly at all,” Nero furrowed his brows again as he looked at you. You nodded.

“Promise,” you said quietly. Yes, you really didn’t care about your own safety, it didn’t matter to you, but you knew Nero truly was concerned and you knew what happened to V and there was no clue to who or what did this to him, so you would try to be as cautious as possible from now on. If only just for V and to assure Nero.

“See you later then.” Nero started bringing the boat down into the water and you watched amused how intrigued V was by the simple mechanic of it. By the time the boat was in the water, Griffon took off into the distance and V was looking around almost excitedly now that the ocean, the salty seawater air, the beautiful scenery were all at his fingertips again. 

The merman put his hands on the edge of the boat and his gaze switched between the ocean and you as if he was silently asking for permission. You smiled at him in sympathy before you nodded slowly. V’s lips curved upwards into a smirk again and all it took was a push from his tail and hands to leap out of the boat and into the open waters again.

You followed his movements with your eyes, you watched how he almost jumped around in the water, how he disappeared beneath the surface only to breach it again a few moments later. You smiled at the scene, at how he was so obviously enthusiastic, how happy he was. He deserved it.

You brought the boat a bit further away from the ship but never let the merman out of your sight until he vanished below the surface and didn’t re-appear for quite a while.

For a moment you thought he was truly gone now and a sad smile formed on your lips, but then he breached the water’s surface again close to the boat. His head peeked out of the water and he slid one hand through his shiny white hair. You couldn’t explain how much that gesture captivated you, how it revealed his defined features, how it made the drops of water on his skin glisten in the sun. 

A chirp accompanied by a loud barking sound snapped you out of your thoughts again and you looked away from V to see the sea lion creature approaching him. The bird jumped down to the edge of your boat, but the sea lion was almost ecstatic in its approach. It rushed incredibly fast and with loud barking noises at the merman, the speed and blur of black fur made it look like a shadow sliding over the water’s surface. Maybe you should ask if it was alright to refer to it as ‘shadow’. It seemed fitting and with (lots of) imagination it sounded similar to how Griffon introduced the creature.

Shadow anything but crashed into him. V caught the creature with a smile on his face, wrapped his arms around the sea lion as it barked, nudged the merman’s face with its own and wagged its flippers around, there simply was nothing but joy and absolutely glee all over the sea lion.

Your own expression of happiness at witnessing that scene vanished and turned into an expression of pure fright when you saw something approach you. A huge and long shape of something barely beneath the surface swam closer to you.

“V,” you said and pointed at whatever was approaching you. The merman followed your gaze and direction and you couldn’t describe the relief that washed over you when V smirked. You exhaled heavily and tried to calm your racing heart, that scared you for a moment.

Though the fact that V obviously knew this creature didn’t mean that your mind still wasn’t ruled by awe and respect and wariness. And once that creature was close enough for you to properly see it you almost couldn’t believe your eyes. A giant crocodile lingered just beneath the surface, only a few sharp scales of his back poked out ot the water. You swallowed heavily as you took in the bizarre shapes all over its body. Spikes and sharp scales and the water gave it a look that seemed as if it was made out of moving liquid. But the most striking feature that struck you was its face, or more its eye. It only had a huge purple colored orb in the middle of its face, which you assumed was its eye but also you weren’t completely convinced. You just were sure that if you had been alone with that creature it would’ve been terrifying. It looked like a creature that visited you in your nightmares.

But V seemed to be acquainted with this creature. And it made sense given how strange Griffon and that sea lion were compared to their normal animal counterparts. Maybe you could figure out more about those too…

V made some clicking sounds and touched the crocodile’s face, the smirk was still on his lips.

The crocodile creature made no sound at all and after a moment it turned around and vanished into the depths of the ocean again. You watched after it until V directed his attention at you again. He looked at you out of clear green eyes which still were full of excitement of being back again. He reached out his hand to you, similar to how you’ve done before to him. Your lips parted a bit as the realization slowly sank in and your smile faltered a bit.

“I can’t,” you said slowly, “I can’t breathe underwater.. I can’t come with you now.”

Griffon chirped and translated your words but for some reason you had the impression that his chirps sounded as sad as you felt like and when V’s face fell and he looked down at the water’s surface you could feel your heart rip in two. You wanted nothing more right now than to jump out of the boat and join him, spend time with him, bask in his company you’ve come to enjoy so much, and you would love to see how and where he lived. God, there was nothing that you wanted more…

But you couldn’t.

“I… I come back tomorrow, okay? We think of something,” you tried to comfort him, although you didn’t know if there was something to think of. You still could spend time together but right now you couldn’t join him. Not to mention that it was getting late too…

Griffon once more translated for you. V nodded. There was no sadness or hurt in his eyes as he got closer to the boat, which was a relief to you, but a bit of that happiness faded, which made you feel horrible.

You leaned down when the merman laid his webbed fingers on the edge of the boat and pushed himself up, just like he did in the tank, and then his lips were on yours again. There was a salty taste to them because of the seawater but they still felt so incredibly soft against yours that just the simple contact sent a wave of warmth through your body and you sighed, a sound that never left your lips, as you slowly kissed. Just a tender gesture that just proved to you again that this could not be a mistake, even if you used to have doubts, even if there were quite a few odds against you right now, but it didn’t matter right now.

There weren’t a lot of goodbyes when you parted again. You just waved to each other, shared a lingering gaze before the merman turned around and left for now. You would seek him out tomorrow again.

When you returned to the ship with a sober expression on your face Kyrie greeted you with a hug. You didn’t expect to realize how much that one was needed right now, so you appreciated the woman’s kindness even more. You followed her into the galley where you two shared some nice freshly made tea and caught up on the last few days since you barely saw Kyrie around until Nico entered the room. There was a look of pure concentration on her face when she looked at you and you raised your eyebrows at her in question.

“Ya know… I think I may have something for ya. Nothing big, even a genius needs time, but it’s a start.”

Your look turned to one of interest and confusion.


	9. Gestures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico is a genius and time to get into your little boat again~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody!
> 
> The new chapter is done! 
> 
> Lots of fluff ahead for this one 💚
> 
> I hope you like it!
> 
> Enjoy! 💚🌹

“These things are what now?!” The disbelief in your voice was impossible to miss as you stared wide-eyed at the little vial in your hand. It was small, fitted perfectly into your palm and contained a transparent liquid with a greenish glow to it. You heard Nico well enough, but comprehending her words proved difficult.

“Exactly what I said they are.”

“Okay, but can you like… say that again? Without the scientific nonsense? Please?”

“Nonsense?! That’s what ya call my genius?!”

“Nicoooo.”

“Fine, fine. This can make ya breathe underwater. It creates a film of air around ya that allows ya to touch and feel everything but prevents ya from suffocating and well, also stops the pressure from getting to ya too. The downside of it: I need another 24 hours to get it done and right now it will only lasts for like roughly two hours.”

You stared at the woman again, “Are you serious?! How?!”

“Girl, ya just told me to ignore the science behind it.”

“I know, I just… this is hard to believe.”

“Hey, I’m a genius, ya know?! Also, ya can thank our little mermaid for that.”

“You said you need another day for it?”

“Yeah,” Nico nodded and looked at her devices again, “the process sadly takes a while, I have no influence on it. Tomorrow around the same time we can test it in the tank, so ya can get a feel for it. I’m working on getting the formulation to last longer but so far no luck, we’ll have to make due with what we got.”

“Which is more than I ever expected. Thank you, Nico.”

“Don’t wanna keep our two lovebirds apart for too long, ya know?!”

You wouldn’t exactly use the same term for whatever was going on between the merman and you but you still laughed and truly there were no words to express how grateful you were and how much you appreciated Nico’s work.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You found the merman on the exact same spot where you used to find him before he got hurt. Sprawled out on the smooth rock behind the island, sunbathing in the morning sun. He laid on his stomach, arms folded and his head rested on top of them, his white hair looked almost dry, it slight curls moved gently in the breeze, the spinous fin on his back made the faintest movements, while his turquoise colored tail moved softly from one side to the other.

He heard you of course. The sound of the boat was way too unusual for an area like this. Instincts kicked in and V raised his head, shoulders tense and his hands ready to push himself off and back into the water again. His features relaxed when he spotted you and you couldn’t help but smile. The merman did push himself off into the water again, though he stayed so close to the surface that you could see his shape approaching you.

“Hi,” you greeted him when his head peeked out of the water again, right in front of your boat. You smiled at his clicking noises but before you could say or do anything the merman’s eyebrows rose a bit as if he just remembered something and he vanished in the depths of the ocean.

You blinked utterly confused and taken aback as you were completely left alone again just like that. What was that all about? You shook your head, but since you could hardly do anything about it you just decided to get back to work. You sat back in the boat and dug around in your bag for your camera.

It felt good being out here again and so far you couldn’t see any difference to before V got attacked. It was all the same to you. You took photos, notes, tried to find new samples for Nico without moving the boat around too much. You couldn’t tell how much time passed but at some point there was a splashing sound and V peeked out of the water in front of the boat again. You smiled and put your camera down.

When you leaned a bit forwards in your boat the merman raised his hand out of the water and held it up in front of you. You stared at the small orange colored, and admittedly kind of weird-looking flower in his hand for a very long moment, but when your mind connected the dots and your eyes switched between V’s expectant gaze and the flower your lips parted to let out a silent “oh” sound, before a smile spread out on your face.

“Thank you,” you said and took the wet flower from him. V’s smirk got broader and there was a sparkle in his eyes that made you guess that he understood your words and not just that he interpreted your reaction as a positive one. You inspected the flower for a moment longer, the smile never faltered on your face and you couldn’t help but feel flattered. When he left earlier you certainly did not expect him to pick flowers for you. You tried to ignore it but you were really feeling giddy at the moment.

You quickly reached into your bag and pulled out a bigger container. The merman watched you curiously as you leaned over the edge of the boat and filled the container with water and carefully put the flower inside before you closed it. He picked it from underwater so you assumed it would probably need to be completely engulfed by seawater to live.

“Hm?” you looked up in surprise as you felt something being dropped into your lap and when you looked down you spotted a vine with the same kind of berries Griffon brought V while he was still on the ship in your lap. You looked at V wondering why he just dropped them like this but you just watched in silence as the merman braced his webbed fingers on the edge of your boat and pulled himself up. You made a startled little sound as the boat swayed a bit but it calmed down again once the merman sat in the boat, his tail dangling in the water just like you tended to do while he was in the tank.

For a moment you just stared mesmerized at his tail and how the turquoise colored scales shimmered and glistened in the sunlight with some of the water still covering it. Until V started to take an interest in the stuff you brought with you. You just let him have his fun as he looked at the containers you brought with you, the one in which you put the flower was especially worthy of being inspected closer. You smiled as you sat cross-legged in the boat, the berries in your lap and watched him dig through your materials. That was until he found a smaller bag in which you carried the book of poems around from which you used to read to him. His green eyes studied the book in the waterproof bag to keep it from being damaged and his webbed fingers slid over the bag and its unusual opening.

Until he held it in your direction.

You raised your eyebrows at him right as you popped another berry into your mouth, not sure if he wanted you to open the bag or read to him. You took it from him anyway of course and took the book out of the bag.

Only to look next to you at V who inched closer to you. Water dripped from his skin onto you as he wrapped his arms around your upper body and pressed himself against your side, his head coming to rest on your shoulder. He was warm from his earlier sunbathing and you exhaled contendly at the pleasant sensation. It felt so nice to be this close to him.

You opened the book in your hands and made sure he could see the colorful illustration of the poems, which at this point he probably remembered, even if he couldn’t read. He made some clicking sounds and pointed at the illustration of the poem “Infant Joy”. He seemed to like this one. Whether because of the illustration or the way it sounded you didn’t know, but with gestures or Griffon’s help he made you read this one more often to him than the others.

“This one then,” you said and started reading. V just pressed himself closer to you, nuzzling the skin of your shoulder and neck and his hands just keeping you pressed close to his body, the water on his skin drenching your top, but it hardly mattered to you. You read another poem to him and after a little while his nuzzling turned into very gentle nibbling. You inhaled sharply when you felt the tip of his sharp teeth poke your soft skin as he dragged his mouth along the marks covering your skin. He didn’t break the skin, even as he pulled some of the skin between his lips and sucked his teeth were only a threat. You sighed when he made quick work of renewing the marks that already started to fade away and you bit the inside of your cheek as you contemplated whether or not to stop him from going further. The boat was anything but suited for this and you didn’t feel too comfortable going into the open waters, especially not since you knew Nico’s work could help and make it much easier for you. But until then…

You reached up to take a hold of his white hair to gently pull him away from you. He looked at you with clear green eyes and slightly parted lips but he didn’t look hurt or surprised at your reaction, though for a moment you just considered to throw caution to the wind and allow him to continue. It took a lot to not just give in to him.

“Later,” you said very slowly and tried to make your message clear with the same gesture you used to tell him when you had to leave the hall for a while. He was thinking. You could see it in how his eyes stared at yours and how his body barely made a movement until he slowly nodded. You smiled and pressed your lips against his for a short but gentle kiss and you couldn’t help but think that it was sweet with how his lips curved slightly upwards again, how his hands still kept holding onto you.

When you put the book away, safe again from getting wet, you took your camera out once more and randomly made a picture of V resting against your side. The merman looked up curiously and completely intrigued at the display of the camera you’ve shown to him before. He still wondered how this thing even functioned, it was written all over him, especially now since he could see himself on it, but that didn’t stop him from observing and inspecting the device. You handed it to him, trusting him enough that he wouldn’t break it(you still didn’t know how strong he truly was physically) and let him experiment with it. He found the trigger easily and was absolutely in awe when a picture of the rock where he usually sunbathed appeared on the screen.

The merman stared at the camera for a very long moment, long enough for you you to start thinking something was wrong. But when you leaned forwards to catch a glimpse of his face the merman turned his head to you. Some of his strands of white hair blocked the view but the smirk tugging at the corners of his lips was impossible to miss, not to mention the sudden increase of your heartbeat at the sight.

And then he jumped into the water and was gone.

“V!” you called but there was absolutely no sign of the merman. Or your camera for that matter. Now you were just glad that it was suitable for underwater. But there was a chance you might not see it again. What the hell was V doing? That smirk on his face was mischievous, there definitely was something on his mind, but you had no clue what it might be. You sighed and sat back in the boat again. You kinda missed your camera now but there was nothing you could do now, so you instead went back to eating the berries V brought and looked at the container with the little flower in it. He really went just to pick it for you. The thought alone brought a smile to your face. 

V returned after what seemed like an eternity.

The merman appeared on the water’s surface with splashing noise and he slid his wet hair back out of his face - a gesture that once again made your heart skip a beat - before he raised his hand.

And held your camera into your direction.

You blinked and took it with confusion glistening in your eyes. As relieved as you were about him bringing it back completely intact you wondered what the hell he was doing with it. But when you looked at the wet device in your hands a thought appeared in the back of your mind.

… no way, you thought and with a racing heart and trembling hands because of the anticipation you opened the gallery of the camera.

Only to cover your mouth with one hand in surprise and astonishment. You had the assumption that this was the case but in the end you couldn’t help how surprised you were anyway at seeing this. 

There were dozens of photos from underwater.

You could see the seawater, rocks, corals, fish, it was incredible. He took so many photos of what was hidden below the surface. Some had weird angles and you kinda knew he clicked the trigger randomly while swimming but others almost seemed intentional, as if he took some time to adjust the camera to take a proper picture. 

You couldn’t believe this. You could hardly comprehend how much material he’s just provided you with for further studies. There were so many photos… and he did this for you.

The merman was still in the process of climbing back onto the boat when you wrapped your arms around him in a trace of overwhelming joy. Even if he could completely understand you there was no way you could express how much that meant to you accurately. V almost fell back into the water when you hugged him around his shoulders and he simply stared at you when you buried your face in the crook of his neck, careful not to touch his gills. Your chest swelled with warmth and contentment when webbed fingers creeped up your back and came to rest on your shoulder blades. Judging by how he reacted to your sudden hug you had the feeling that he wasn’t completely accustomed to such a gesture since, while he did put his arms around you, he barely moved otherwise, his back and head were straight, he didn’t make an attempt to pull you closer. However, when you looked at his back you could see the turquoise and light purple colored spiny fin being slightly lowered, it gave an almost relaxed impression and a smile tugged at the corners of your lips.

This was the last thing you expected him to do for you.


	10. Time To Go Diving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to put Nico’s invention to the test~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody,
> 
> welcome to the new chapter 💚
> 
> I can't say it enough but thank you so much for all your lovely feedback! It means the world to me that you enjoy this story so much 💚
> 
> Without further ado, let's go~
> 
> I hope you like it!
> 
> Enjoy! 💚🌹

It was absolutely weird looking up from your position and seeing the ceiling blurrily as the image was distorted by the water above you. You inhaled, and while you didn’t feel the usual rush of air filling your nose you still knew somehow that you were okay, that somehow your body got what you needed. Not to mention that your eyes were open and the water didn’t affect them at all. No sting, no burning, nothing...

But it was weird as hell.

You stood up in the tank after a while and the shift from water to air was just the slightest bit off. At least that was something you wouldn’t have to get used to.

“How was it?” Nico asked you, her excitement because of the apparent success was written all over her features, she was literally gleaming with joy and enthusiasm. You shrugged.

“Kinda weird to be honest. Will take me a long time getting used to probably…”, you said then. The effect didn’t fade yet, but now that you were outside of the water you didn’t feel anything affecting you, which you thought was pretty nice. 

“Nah, pretty sure ya will be distracted enough to not be weirded out. And definitely don’t think about how this genius,” she dramatically pointed at herself, “is writing history with this.”

She was right about that part and the full extent of what Nico accomplished there would probably only occur to you long after the moment is gone again. Going diving is one thing, but doing that without needing any of the equipment?! You could just get into the water and join the fish and creatures beneath the surface. Even if the time was limited.

“I’m working on prolonging the effect but for now about two hours will have to do.”

“So, what if I’m still underwater when the time’s up?”

“Girl, ya better not, but even once the effect has faded ya still have a few moments before it’s completely gone. Maybe make a timer on your watch a bit before the two hours are up. I’d probably also try to communicate some sort of signal with V. He could bring ya up to the surface in no time. Remember that the pressure won’t be an issue with these.”

You furrowed your brows as you got dried up with a towel and listened to Nico’s explanation and advice. The communication with V was working well enough that you could establish such a signal. He could read the clock as well to an extent, maybe Griffon would be around tomorrow as well to help out with it. Damn, now you were hoping for the time and opportunity to teach him human speech. How amazing that would be…

“Alright, guess I’ll take a shower, grab something to eat and call it a day. Thanks again, Nico. This really means a lot, you know?!”

Nico patted you on the back, “Just helping ya out with that mate of yours. See ya in the morning!”

You chuckled at her comment but you didn’t really had it in you to feel embarrassed. As long as you didn’t think too much about it and the further implications of it you were fine. You hugged her and waved her goodbye when you left the hall.

You fell asleep with the little flower in its container on your nightstand and a smile on your face.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You stretched your arms over your head after you entered the deck after breakfast the next morning. The morning air was almost cool compared to the temperatures at noon, so for a moment you just enjoyed the salty breeze and the sunlight on your face.

Nero was on deck, standing by the railing and looking at the area through some binoculars, occasionally he mumbled something under his breath.

“Morning,” you greeted him.

“Hey.” He looked at you for a moment before he looked through the binoculars again.

“What’s so interesting out there today?” you asked him and tried to spot anything, although the distance and the blinding light of the sun made it hard to see past the first few rock formations.

“Your friend,” he said and you looked up at him in surprise. Now he certainly had your attention. Was something wrong? Nero’s demeanor didn’t seem like it, but something was definitely going on. He handed you the binoculars.

It took you a while to spot the merman but you found him half emerged from the water and accompanied by Griffon and the sea lion by the island. The sea lion - Shadow - stood on its rear flippers at the very edge of the beach, right before the water got too deep and it had a branch of a small tree in its mouth that overhung the water. Griffon was picking at the branches while V himself pulled at the leaves and branches he could reach himself.

“He’s been doing that since dawn. Maybe he did this yesterday evening as well,” Nero told you as he noticed the furrow of your brows, “just picking and pulling at trees and bushes he can reach, saw him picking stones and gravel too, then he just vanishes underwater, and returns to repeat the process,” he explained further.

“Hmm,” you murmured and lowered the binoculars. You may have an assumption judging by what other species did, but it was just an assumption. Though maybe… you could figure it out later with Nico’s new invention. Still though, this was a curious thing to happen. So far V sunbathed everyday at this time of the day. Whatever he was doing it was something important to him.

“Looks like he’s building something,” you said after a short while. Nero raised an eyebrow.

“Building?” he repeated as he crossed his arms over his chest. You nodded.

“Yeah. I’m not sure exactly what, but he certainly needs all of this stuff for something.”

“If you say so,” Nero murmured, “I’ll help you with the boat. Let’s go.”

“Thanks, I’ll just grab my bag real quick.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When you got as close to the spot where V appeared and vanished again after a while as you could the merman didn’t even notice you. He was so caught up in whatever he was doing that he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings.

His companions, however, were even more observant and wary because of this. 

Shadow spotted you easily with its glowing eyes and the sea lion started to bark and pointed one of its flippers into your direction. Griffon started to chirp then too and V finally looked over to your position. The corner of his lips curved upwards as he approached you. He greeted you with the usual combination of clicking sounds and you greeted him as well with a smile. But then he raised his hand and you only caught a glimpse of what looked like grass in his fingers before he dived and vanished. You hoped you could see what he was doing…

The thought that you were so close to actually diving down there and see what’s beneath the surface for yourself made your heartbeat spike unexpectedly. There was no fear or doubt, just pure excitement and joy, maybe a hint of nervousness too. You still couldn’t believe this.

Though, first you had to talk to V about this. Luckily Griffon landed on the edge of your boat, while Shadow layed down and seemingly took a nap in the sun.

But when you slowly reached out to him with the intention of scratching the bird’s feathers, the little creature leaned and jumped away from your fingers, completely refusing any form of attention. Instead Griffon puffed out all the blue glowing feathers in an attempt to make himself look bigger and more intimidating.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. You’re a big, dangerous creature,” you said and pulled your hand back. Griffon seemed to huff.

V came back after a while, breaching the surface and once more sliding his shiny white hair back. He really needed to stop doing that… You leaned forwards in your boat and closer to the merman, but before he could lean up and bridge the last remaining gap you spoke up.

“Alright, listen, I need to talk to you about something,” you said and looked over to Griffon, “will you help, please?”

V raised one of his eyebrows barely noticeable but after listening to Griffon’s chirps and whistles he nodded.

You tried to explain the new situation as simple and with as many gestures as possible. Griffon next to you chirped and whistled along while V studied your expression and gestures and listened to Griffon’s translation. V’s expression turned to one of excitement, you couldn’t describe it as anything else. His fin ears twitched, there was a sparkle in his beautiful eyes and his mouth made an “oh” shape. It was endearing as hell.

That expression changed to one of concentration though as he watched and listened to you when you talked about the limitations and gestures to make sure you’d be alright down there, a hard expression in his deep green eyes, his mouth forming a straight line and a small wrinkle above his nose. It was a thought in the back of your mind that you truly appreciated how attentive he was.

After you’ve finished your explanation he very slowly nodded. And you believed that he understood everything you said(or Griffon translated) and showed him. There was nothing in his eyes nor body language that indicated he was confused or lost.

“You got this one?” you asked him once again and he nodded once more, this time he understood you by himself, “can you repeat it again please?” you asked him then just to be really sure and held up your hand with the wristwatch. It was suited for diving and had an alarm and once it went off it blinked in all kinds of colorful lights(you knew this crazy thing would come in handy one day). It should be enough for you to notice it down there at least.

V raised both of his hands above the surface and tapped his wrist with two of his fingers. You nodded and gave him a smile. This was supposed to be the gesture for him to bring you to the surface again should the need arise.

Here we go then, you thought and took a deep breath to calm your racing heart. You leaned back again and pulled your top over your head and kicked your pants off until you were only left in your bikini. A shiver ran down your body when you noticed V’s green eyes watching you very closely, he was not being subtle with the way his gaze trailed down your body(but then again, he also had no idea about privacy).

You pulled out one of the two vials you brought with you. Nico said they would take effect within one minute, so no time to waste. Your boat should be okay for a while, so you would just leave here.

Alright then, you thought and gulped the liquid down before you turned the timer on your watch on. You took a deep breath and sat on the edge of the boat, your legs dangling in the water.

V raised his arms up and webbed fingers came to rest on your hips and you smiled as you slid into the water, the firm grip on your hips keeping you from ducking into the water right away. Surprisingly the water didn’t really feel cold as expected and you wondered if it had something to do with the liquid as well. V smirked as you were still in his grasp and before you could even blink his lips were on yours. You allowed this moment, tangling your hands into his wet hair and moving your lips against his full ones, but right now you were still running against the clock and you desperately wanted to use Nico’s invention to its full advantage. You broke the kiss after a while, gave the merman a smile but then gently pulled his hands away from your hips to indicate what you wanted to do.

You just couldn’t help it. Everything you’ve dreamed about was right at your fingertips, you just needed to lower your head and you were there. V made a sound that almost sounded like a chuckle but he understood your implication. The merman ducked straight down, just beneath the surface and with a racing heart and a deep breath you followed him.

There were no words to describe what you saw at all.

Magnificent, beautiful, astounding, gorgeous, breathtaking… all true and yet nothing came even close to the truth.

All these rocks peeking out of the ocean’s surface were just a hint, offered just a glimpse at all these amazing shapes and formations way below the surface. It was hard to describe. The island and the rocks seemed to expand and they created a structure that created almost even surfaces and paths among them, leading lower and lower, built nooks and caves along with crevices that could only hint at how far down these rocks truly led.

And then there were the plants and animals. The rocks were covered by a vast variety of algae and seaweed that it made you think that the surface of the rocks might actually feel really comfortable instead of solid and rough. You could also see kelp peeking out from the crevices and chasms, making you wonder if there actually was a kelp forest. If there was you hoped you could inspect it at some point. But behind you, on the other side of the island you could spot corals. Vivid and colorful corals that gently moved with the water’s natural flow. You could only imagine what the other side of the island looked like beneath the surface, but the huge amount of colorful and also unusual looking fish and the hint of a coral reef was a promise that this part would look just as beautiful as where you were right now.

Everything was just so stunning. This undiscovered world right in front of your eyes was so breathtakingly beautiful. Not to mention that the look and feel of the water around you gave everything an almost intangible feel as if you entered a world completely different from everything you knew. It was still so surreal. 

But you were truly here.

And then V entered your field of vision. The merman appeared above and in front of you after he let you have these moments of simply taking in your surroundings and enjoying the scenery. The considerate gesture caused a pleasant warmth to erupt in your chest, but most of all were you captivated by just him in that instance.

His shiny white hair spreading out, softly flowing in the water, sharp features completely relaxed, green eyes staring at you as if you were something unique, something just as beautiful as the scenery around you, his skin had a bluish hue to it in the water, the faint markings on his skin were now much more outstanding and the big fin at the end of his tail made just as soft movements in the water as his hair, while the turquoise appendage shimmered in the water as if it was covered by a layer of crystals.

He looked almost ethereal.

You smiled at him, which he reciprocated with his usual smirk before he reached out his open hand and offered it to you. You took it immediately, trusting him and just wondering what he wanted to do now. His webbed fingers wrapped firmly around yours, a grip that was almost too rough but when he turned around and began to swim and pulled you with him it became clear to you that he just made sure you could follow him.

Admittedly, swimming down here was a bit weird without diving gear and much more exhausting than you expected, so in the end you were incredibly glad that V just kinda pulled you through the water. He swam a bit around the island, passed these even rock surfaces before he dived deeper into the chasms and rifts of the rock formations. The light of the sun still reached this area and enlightened the scenery in such a way that you had no issues seeing what was around you. You swam through the huge kelp you spotted earlier, the plants grazing your body caused a ticklish sensation on your skin before you seemingly reached your destination.

You stopped in front of… a cave. At least it looked like a tiny cave. It was a big hole in one of the giant rock formations and it got dark enough that you couldn’t see if in here was an exit somewhere or if it truly was just a hole with a few plants peeking out of it. 

The merman released your hand and swam into the cave, though stayed close enough so you could still see him. He folded his tail underneath him, giving the impression of him sitting on his knees, the hole was big enough that he didn’t even hit his head on the top, and seemed to reach for something. It was only in that moment that you realized all the plants peeking out of the cave were not plants that grew in there naturally. Instead they seemed to have been placed there intentionally.

V made a gesture for you to join him before he raised his arms to the top of the cave and did something you couldn’t see but his eyes were slightly narrowed. Whatever he was doing he was very focused on his task.

You took the few strokes to properly reach the cave only to widen your eyes in surprise as you mimicked his position and kneeled at the entrance of it. The entirety of this small cave was covered in all kinds of algae and leaves you could only find above the surface. The ground of the rocky cave was covered in seaweed, grass, even leaves from the palm trees found at the coast of the island. You spotted stones and branches keeping all of these things tied together and putting enough weight on them for them to stick to the ground. Not a single leaf threatened to escape its place in the cave.

But the ground was not the only thing like this. This whole cave was covered in algae and leaves, kept on the wall by branches and tiny shells growing on the rock. It looked incredible. And more than all was the handiwork impressive. Because it looked like there was a carpet out of plants covering the entirety of the cave, even the ceiling. V still had his eyes fixed on his task and you noticed he was attaching more seaweed to a part of the wall that was not yet covered. It was then that you also caught a glimpse of a little pile of still unused plants and branches, pinned down by stones he gathered.

You stared at the scene, surprised and mesmerized and the realization only slowly dawned on you.

V’s weird behavior earlier, what also confused Nero, where he seemed to gather stuff from the island...

He gathered all of that stuff to build this?!

Did he live here?

You pushed yourself a bit deeper into the cave, your feet and legs now touching the covered ground and you were amazed with how soft it felt beneath your skin. You couldn’t exactly figure out how many layers of plants were below you but it was enough that it created a very soft and comfortable feeling. It surprised you as much as it amazed you. You couldn’t imagine how much time V spent on building this. And apparently he wasn’t completely finished yet either.

The merman lowered his hands and turned his body in your direction. There was a glance in his green eyes, something expectant, something curious and it took you a few moments to realize he was waiting for your reaction to the cave.

The thought that he brought you here to show it to you made your heart swell in your chest and you felt the heat rise in your cheeks. You wondered if that was still visible being in the water and in the cave that was even darker. You took a deep breath, even though the gesture was weird and confusing since you didn’t feel any air invading your lungs, but the gesture still managed to calm your racing heart. You pushed yourself forwards with your arms and legs, on land you probably would’ve outright leaped, and threw your arms and legs around him. You hid your face in his shoulders, your arms wrapped around his neck and in his hair and your legs around his waist, just below the spinal fin on his back.

He still was a bit taken aback by such a gesture, especially since you never just threw yourself at him completely like this and a hug seemed to be the gesture he was the least familiar with. He leaned back a bit since your gesture surprised him and you were so astonished by how just the slight change in position made it feel as if you were floating. The water around you made everything feel so surreal, you still couldn’t believe you were truly down here.

Webbed hands settled on your back, palms flat, fingers splayed and he just held you. He did nothing else, just let you cling to him and have this moment of affection that you apparently needed and craved from him. You just enjoyed the contact, enjoyed how new it felt now that you were both in his natural habitat, now that you were floating in the water and enjoyed how nice it all felt to be with him like this.

You grinned happily when you pulled back a little bit and pressed a kiss to his cheek, the grin still plastered on your face. You couldn’t explain it really, but you were just so overwhelmed with joy and excitement in that instant, you had to let it out, had to share it with him somehow.

V broke the hug finally and changed his position by laying down on the ground of the cave on his stomach, propping himself up on his forearms and encouraging you to do the same. You followed his example and layed down and you truly were astounded at how soft the ground felt. You couldn’t feel the stone anymore at all, just a mixture of different almost pillowy textures and if the ocean hadn’t swallowed any of your sounds you would’ve sighed in contentment. 

The merman seemed to notice your relaxed state of mind and body and he smiled as he leaned in and nuzzled the skin of your neck and shoulders where the markings of your lovemaking were still very much visible. You inched closer to him, allowed him to lay one arm around you, and pressed into his side. Webbed fingers stroked up and down the line of your spine, a curious glance was still in his eyes because you lacked any of the outer features he had like a spinal fin.

You just stayed like this. Just enjoying the proximity to each other and the gentle caresses and touches on each other’s skin.

Until the watch around your wrist started blinking rapidly.

A displeased sigh left your lips and faded in the water around you as you pressed a button to stop the blinking. You looked at V, an apologetic smile on your lips and made the gesture you talked about earlier. The merman seemed a bit disappointed but he nodded once.

V pushed himself out of his little cave and offered you his hand again. Your shoulders shook at your silent chuckle when he pulled you close to him after you took his hand. He smirked down at you but grabbed your hips tightly, making it clear to you he had no intention of letting go.

And then, with a single move from his tail, he swam towards the surface.

You would’ve yelped in surprise and your hands seeked refuge on his shoulders to have something to hold onto while he just ascended in the water. 

You breached the surface with a loud splash and a deep breath. You knew it was unnecessary but it was just a reflex and habit to do so after being underwater. But now that you were at the surface again, your head and neck emerged from it, you noticed something that occured to you once within the last two hours but now that you were not distracted by the breathtaking scenery, it crashed over you instantly.

You were exhausted.

Your limbs felt heavy as if you used them for hours and days without break and you were somewhat really glad for V’s hands still holding onto your hips. You sighed, and now as the effect of the liquid slowly wore off also your breathing felt a bit heavier.

You chuckled nonetheless, the joy and excitement over what just happened still way too present inside of you. You leaned against the merman, your arms hanging limply at your side. You were exhausted but happy. Though luckily V noticed that you were not as active as you were before. He leaned back, taking you with him until you were laying half on top of him. Gentle undulations with his tail moved the two of you forwards and it was only then that you realized you were incredibly close to the beach of the island, which was where V was heading to it seemed.

He turned you two around a bit when he reached the shoreline, the water too low for him to properly swim anymore and let you slide into the gravel that covered the beach. Your legs up to your hips were still completely submerged in the water, even if barely so, but your upper body only partly and your head was almost completely out of the water. It allowed you to lay down on your back but still gave V the chance to be with you while still being in contact with water, which was apparently the most important thing for him.

You smiled up at him at the gesture. Carrying you and laying you down like this because you were exhausted. Mer creature or not but he had a pretty decent idea of how to react to your - arguably very human - needs.

Griffon’s chirping reached your ears and you looked up in time to see the blue bird creature drop your bag from the boat into the gravel, mindfully far away from the water. You smiled.

“Thank you, buddy,” you told him as he landed on a nearby rock looking out into the open waters. Your gaze returned to V who was propped up on one elbow again and looked down at you. There was an adoration in his eyes that made you almost look away bashfully. Seriously, his eyes shouldn’t affect you this much.

Still, you raised one heavy arm up to his face, as a means to thank him for this and the last two hours.

Your fingers never made it to his face as a gunshot echoed in the air.


	11. Feral - NSFW

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get to see a quite different side to the usually so sweet and curious merman. But you kinda like it~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone,
> 
> here's the new chapter <3
> 
> I'm really sorry about that cliffhanger last week. I hope this chapter will make it up to you 💚
> 
> I hope you like it!
> 
> Enjoy! 💚🌹

Startled, you sat up, eyes wide and lips parted, while V next to you released a hiss, a sound you never heard of him before, sharp teeth bared and his spinal fin was flaring up; it was a rather intimidating display of his features, but you couldn’t focus on that at all.

That has definitely been a gunshot.

And when your startled mind finally calmed down enough to focus on where that sound came from the shock was replaced with a sense of fright and panic.

The ship!

The ship was a bit away of course, so you couldn’t make out details, but you knew Nero had a gun. And when you lifted your arm to shield your gaze a bit from the sun did you see a bunch of flying creatures flying around the ship. They looked like birdlike creatures from the distance, you could barely make out features, but they seemed to be rather big.

Another shot echoed in the air and one of these things fell into the ocean. 

You wanted to stand up, you didn’t know what you could do to help but you also couldn’t sit around here doing nothing.

A firm grip around your wrist stopped you from even attempting to get up from your sitting position. You looked at V, a silent plea in your eyes. You had to do something. You couldn’t stay here.

But the merman’s gaze was hard. There was a dark, determined glance in his eyes and you knew that he wouldn’t let you go. You bit your lower lip. But you couldn’t stay here either. Yes, maybe V was smarter than you right now. Maybe he was very well aware that you couldn’t do anything to help Nero. That was his job after all. But sitting here doing nothing and just hoping for the best felt absolutely wrong.

The grip around your wrist didn’t vanish but the merman raised his other hand to his lips.

The whistle was loud, shrill and had a slight echo to it, the sudden unexpected noise almost made you flinch.

Griffon was at your side immediately. The little bird flapped his glowing wings but for the very first time there was a crackling noise surrounding the creature. And if you focused hard enough you could almost see tiny traces of electricity. So Griffon was a demon after all.

A barking sound appeared and the sea lion creature almost shot out of the ocean and was at V’s side within seconds. It growled, baring its teeth with its red eyes locked on the fight that obviously was taking place on the ship.

And then there was a quiet rumble, barely noticeable but chilling nonetheless. You looked to the side, following the noise and spotted this crocodile creature walking slowly along the gravel over to your position. It moved rather slowly but there was still something thrilling about it, something that sent a shiver down your spine when its big purple eye looked at you directly.

The scene was strange. V with these three unusual creatures. But at the same time it was absolutely awe-inspiring. There seemed to be such a close bond between them if you thought back to previous encounters with them. Without them you probably wouldn’t have found V that night… or only once it would’ve been way too late…

God, now you wondered if these demons attacking the ship… had something to do with what happened to V that night. You still had no idea what caused his injuries, so these creatures might as well be responsible. But then you expected V to react differently. He was way too determined, way too confident in his posture and reaction. He called his companions to him for a reason. He was holding your wrist for a reason. You were worried. You really didn’t like this. Neither the attack and you being too far away to help(not that you could do anything but still…) nor V being so deadly serious suddenly.

V made clicking sounds, deep and dark sounds and the determined look in his eyes never once faltered. Griffon chirped and Shadow nodded. There was the same sense of resolve all over them. V turned his head towards the crocodile, his free hand touched its face while he told it something. There was a very quiet sound coming from the creature as a response.

And then V turned to you.

The merman put both of his webbed hands onto your shoulders and pushed you down slightly before he made gestures with his hands. You had a bit of an issue with following him but your eyes widened a bit when the realisation dawned on you that he wanted you to stay here. Whatever he planned he didn’t want you around for it. There was a spark inside of you that wanted you protest, but the seriousness of the situation, the resolute gaze inside his green eyes, his companions almost eager for whatever was about to occur next… it all just made you nod. Your gaze fell to your lap as you nodded. You didn’t like it. Neither you having to stay behind nor V going without you, but deep down you knew he could at least do something and he wasn’t alone. You just hoped that these creatures attacking the ship were not truly the ones who hurt him.

Webbed fingers slid through your wet hair and you closed your eyes at what was supposed to be a calming gesture. It worked. If not the gesture itself then just for his attempt, which was incredibly appreciated and just… nice of him.

V let go of you, made some clicking sounds again and then he vanished into the ocean again, Griffon and Shadow following suit.

Only the nightmarish crocodile stayed behind. In fact, it actually moved behind you and curled around your body. You felt nervous being left alone with this creature but it didn’t do anything but lay down in the gravel, it didn’t touch you, there was still a distance between you but the way it partly encircled you almost seemed protective.

You swallowed. V trusted this creature, apparently he left it alone with you on purpose. As protection? The thought was flattering but also nerve-wrecking because it would mean that V was indeed concerned about the situation. You took a deep breath and tried to relax and looked at the creature again who lied almost perfectly still in the gravel. If you hadn’t seen V interacting friendly with it, if V hadn’t told it to stay behind with you then you seriously would’ve been scared of it. It looked like a nightmarish creature. Not ugly or hideous at all, just terrifying.

“Maybe I should just call you Nightmare then, hu?!” you said to the crocodile. The flicker crossing its purple eye was the only response you got.

You pulled your legs up to your chest as you watched ahead again and tried your best to see what was happening in the distance. You could still see these flying demons, gunshots still filled the air.

But then V and his companions reached the area and while you couldn’t properly see it all, the scene still made your eyes widen and your heart beat rapidly in your chest.

You saw lightning traveling through the air and hitting these flying demons, you could definitely see Griffon, even if he was just a tiny spot in the distance, pushing one of these much bigger demons down into the water, his little body burning and shining with electricity. It was the last thing you expected to see that this little creature was this powerful.

And the same applied to Shadow as well. You saw spikes shooting out from the water, expanding further and so quick that they managed to stab and pierce through the flying demons as if their skin was paper.

You couldn’t believe what you were seeing. You never would’ve assumed these creatures were capable of these things. Yes, they were unusual and most likely demonic as well, but seeing them attack and take down these much bigger demons… you were impressed and incredibly awestruck. If Griffon and Shadow could pull of moves like this… you wondered what Nightmare could do. V assumed he left the crocodile with you for a reason and not because it couldn’t do anything.

But most of all did you wonder what V could do, if he could do anything. You had no idea about his true capabilities. For all you knew he could be just as strong as his companions, even if his lean frame did not indicate that.

Still… if V and his companions had such abilities… how did he end up this badly wounded? What was hiding somewhere in these waters that was that powerful? Not to mention hasn’t shown itself since then…

You shook your head, trying to rid your mind of these thoughts.

The battle went on for quite a while. There were way more of these demons than you could see at first glance but eventually the sounds of the occuring battle quietened down, the flying demons were nowhere to be seen anymore. Griffon was the first to return to your position.

“Is everyone alright?” you asked the bird. He whistled and nodded. You breathed a sigh of relief.

And then V returned and your eyes widened as you took in that sight. 

He looked unharmed, luckily, even though there were still streaks of blood in his usually shiny white hair and on his face despite him being in the water. But at least he wasn’t hurt from what it looked like. However, that couldn’t be said about the hideous demonic creature he held clutched in his grasp.

The merman had one of these flying demons in his hands. A horrendous, bat-like looking demon and it was still alive! You stared with wide eyes at the creature, impressed by V’s display of strength, but also deeply confused why he was bringing that here. 

The demon’s glowing eyes settled on you and it screeched, fletching its teeth, wriggling and twitching trying to get out of the merman’s grasp, and you winced, trying to get further away from it. V growled, a sound that sent a shiver down your spine, his spinal fin flared up in a undeniably display of fury and aggression, before he plunged his teeth into the demons’s neck. The sound of the tearing and the splashing of blood along with the scream of the demon was nerve-wracking, gross even, but you couldn’t avert your eyes even if you wanted to. There was something so thrilling, so captivating in a very strange way about witnessing this act of anger and hostility towards this creature that just made your breath get caught in your throat.

When V pulled back from the demon, mouth and chin bloody, the creature was still very much alive but it lost all energy to even try to attack you again. There was a disdain in V’s eyes as he threw the demon at Nightmare who moved from its previous position behind you to more towards V. You flinched when Nightmare opened its giant jaw and caught the demon with ease. There was a rumble from deep within the crocodile as it adjusted the demon in its mouth and walked slowly away with it into the water. There was no doubt in your mind that Nightmare was about to eat the demon and that was the entire reason V brought it here with him and alive. 

But V’s reaction as the demon tried to attack you… Did he just hate how it didn’t stay still in his grasp or… was he so angry because it tried to attack you?

You couldn’t tell. But you probably shouldn’t be affected so much just by the thought of V showing such a side of him because something threatened you.

V was next to you in an instant, bloodied teeth still bared, still growling, spinal fin still flaring up as he watched Nightmare disappear with the weakened, but still alive demon. Only when the crocodile was out of sight again and you softly said his name did some of the tension leave his body.

He turned around to you, his gaze got much softer the longer he stared at you and you couldn’t help but smile bashfully, your eyes locked with his. Though, when he moved his head closer to kiss you you stopped the merman. He blinked in confusion and you just gestured to your own mouth and hair and then to his. His mouth and hair was still full of blood and as much as you wanted him to kiss you right now, you weren’t really fond of the taste of demon blood in your mouth. Griffon’s chirp sounded and V’s hand reached up to his face, effectively smearing the blood even more on his face. It almost made you laugh.

V pushed himself properly into the water again, apparently to wash himself, and you used this moment to go grab your bag. You took out your notebook, tore out a page and scribbled on it a quick note before you walked over to Griffon who bathed himself in the water as well. Shadow was still next to him, lying in the gravel and relaxing in the sun. They both looked up at you.

“Can you… take this to the ship please?” you asked the little bird. It was just a note saying that you were alright as you figured after this attack they might be worried about you, but you had no intention of going back just yet to tell them yourself. Griffon puffed out his blue feathers in what you would interpret as a defying gesture. But then he seemed to sigh, shook his feathers, and flew up, grabbing the note from you.

“Thank you,” you said. The bird seemed to roll his eyes but took off anyway. Shadow barked and followed Griffon. You looked after them for a moment before you sat down in the gravel again, resting your still exhausted legs once more.

You yelped as a hand wrapped around your ankle and pulled and you fell backwards until you were lying on your back again in the gravel. And just like before when you came to the island you were barely so emerged in the water up to your hips but the water barely reached your head. V’s face appeared in your vision, now all cleaned up again, a smirk on his lips and mischief and amusement burning in his eyes.

You gave him a smile of your own and this time you welcomed him as he lowered his head to yours. His lips were warm against yours, the faint taste of salt still lingered on them, but it hardly bothered you. His soft, supple lips moved unhurriedly against yours, still a bit sloppy and uncoordinated but it still sent shivers of warmth through your body, your body coming alive under his touch. You reached your hands up to his face. One hand came to cradle his face, feeling the soft damp skin beneath your fingertips while the other curved in the back of his neck to keep him close to you.

You sighed when you broke the kiss as you felt your body reacting when V lowered his head again past your lips to press his mouth against your neck. He dragged his lips along the soft skin, his sharp teeth a constant threat to the thin skin but he never actually broke it. You gasped when a pointy tongue slipped past his lips to draw a path on your sun-dried skin, licking along the dark patches still covering your skin-

You moaned, embarrassed and completely taken by surprise as V pulled your skin of the crook of your neck into his mouth and sucked hard, the tips of his sharp teeth just about to break the skin, the sensations setting your body on fire from the inside out, a fire that traveled along your nerves and gathered in your core, making you crave more. V seemed to like your reaction as he smirked against your skin and you could feel a rumble in his chest vibrating from where he pressed his upper body against yours. 

Your hands wrapped around his shoulders, trying to keep him close, to get more contact, anything that could somehow relief some of the pressure that was suddenly increased tenfold. You pressed your own lips against the skin of his shoulders, softly nibbling the skin as you panted and gasped against his skin, while he pulled more dark bites and marks from your skin. The merman groaned when you gently bit down on his collarbone and his tail pushed forward, uncontrolled and sudden at the sensation, his hips coming into contact with your thighs.

V propped himself up on his forearm next to your head and let his other hand travel to your hip. His lips traveled over your upper body, creating a landscape on your skin of red and purple colors in its wake that left you trembling and gasping beneath him, your body screaming for more. V’s full lips reached your chest and for a moment you felt his confusion at the bikini still covering it from his eyes and lips. With shaking hands you quickly removed the bit of clothing and threw it behind you so he wouldn’t ruin it. There was a glimmer in his darkened green eyes as he let his gaze travel over your body and it sent a wave of pleasure straight through your core. You couldn’t believe how pent up you already were and you wondered if the images of V being so feral earlier affected you much more than assumed earlier. Every thought, however, was swiftly wiped off your mind and you could only moan as his lips and one of his hands settled on your breasts. 

He kneaded your chest roughly, squeezed it in his hand while his tongue peeked out from between his lips to taste the supple flesh. The moan that escaped your lips almost turned into a whimper when his tongue twirled around your nipple, a sound the merman very much enjoyed given the pleased groan he let out at your reaction. Your hands dived into his white damp hair as your back arched against him, desperate for some friction and more of him.

V’s attention and ministrations sent tingling sensations through your body, the pressure just kept on building but he didn’t do anything that would give you some relieving friction. You wondered distantly if he avoided the place where you wanted him the most on purpose. His hand never left your breast but his lips ascended back to your neck, nibbling and sucking more on your soft skin, dragging more and more moans and small whimpers out of you.

Until you couldn’t take it anymore. Your hands left his hair and tried to remove the lower part of your bikini. You barely cared anymore if you would lose it and threw it to the side. V didn’t pay attention to what you were doing. His tongue trailed another path along your wet skin, over your jaw, your neck, your shoulders and he smirked against your skin whenever he felt you tremble beneath him.

But you desperately needed some form of relief. Right now.

You pulled his head up to catch his lips with yours again. The kiss was sloppy, just lips and tongues entwining, the threat of sharp teeth not a fear to your dazed mind anymore but it just seemed to heighten the sensations. Your tongues danced with each other, tasting each other, before you grabbed the hand on your breast and pushed it lower. Your fingers were shaking but you didn’t care nor did your intentions falter and you pushed his hand right between your legs.

You broke the kiss. A moan, deep and uncontrolled, escaped your throat as his hand came into contact with your folds and your hips bucked up instantly to chase the contact and gain more of that amazing friction.

V’s eyes observed your face, green eyes darkened and covered by desire, the intensity of his gaze pulled another gasp from out of you before the merman let his eyes slide over your body to where you pushed his hand. He almost experimentally moved his fingers against your folds, stroking your slick skin as if he had no idea how to do it properly. You whimpered, your thighs twitching and you squeezed your eyes shut as your body was overcome with an intense wave of pleasure. You couldn’t believe how close you already were, how incredibly needy you were, but in your hazy mind you hardly found the strength to care.

V obliged your apparent wish of touching you between your legs and his gaze switched between your face and what his hand was doing to you. You squirmed beneath him, muscles twitching and moaning freely as he stroked your folds, instinctual or purposefully changing the pressure he put on your sensitive skin.

You clung to his shoulders, your fingers dug into his skin as you gasped and moaned, your hips bucking up into him, his experimental touches absolutely maddening, you just needed more, just a bit-

Your orgasm rushed over you surprisingly and you choked on a moan as V’s fingers found your clit and sent you over the edge immediately and swiftly. Your body quivered and your muscles spasmed with the intensity of it, your eyes squeezed shut as the waves of your release washed over you and you came undone helplessly beneath the merman.

When you slowly came down from your high and the waves of your orgasm subsided you managed to open your eyes again, breath leaving your lips in gasps, chest heaving, body still trembling. And only when you looked into V’s face again did you notice how much this affected him as well. His lips were parted, he panted softly, his chest was heaving and his eyes stared intently at you. Green eyes burned into yours with a fascination that was hard to fathom. The dark intensity in them almost made you moan again.

You felt it then. His cock, hot and twitching against your thigh, pulling little gasps from the merman’s lips whenever your leg moved against him. A shiver traveled through your body now at the sight of him and gathered straight up in your core again. You pulled your lower lip into your mouth in anticipation, the need to feel him inside of you again almost unbearable, and you spread your legs a bit further for him to settle properly between them.

There was a growl leaving V’s lips as he accepted the invitation and shifted, his hands holding firmly onto your hips. You moaned longingly as his cock slipped along your folds, the small ridges creating a friction to your sensitive body that made every nerve in your body scream out for more.

His tail shifted against you, the appendage was slick against your body because of the water still engulfing your legs as V adjusted his position. You pulled your knees higher and wrapped your ankles around his waist, mindful of the spinous fin on his back, as your body tingled at the sensations of pulling him this much closer to you.

And then he pushed his tail forwards. Your head fell back and your back arched against him as you felt him sliding into you. Any sounds that may have left your lips were drowned out by the deep groan that spilled from V’s lips as he pushed forwards, filling you until he was fully seated inside of you, his hips flush against yours and the texture of his scales creating an amazing friction to your sensitive skin.

V’s hands dug into the skin of your hips before he started to move inside you, pulling back before pushing back in, his tail rolling against you and you moaned at the feeling. Having him inside of you like this, feeling every little ridge of his cock sliding along your walls, feeling every wave of pleasure coursing through your body at the incredible friction, was impossible to fathom, even less to handle. Your hands searched for him, and you couldn’t do anything but cling to his shoulders in this blinding pleasure as he pulled moan after moan out of you.

V groaned against your skin as his pace picked up. His tail pushed and rolled up against you harder, faster, water splashing all around you, his scales rubbed along your clit each time your hips met his. It was intense and breathtaking, you thought for a moment you may faint at the intensity of it all. You whimpered into his skin, whispering praises and pleas you knew he didn’t understand but you were far too lost in these incredible sensations as you felt the pressure inside of you building anew. Each undulation and push of his tail inside of you brought you closer to your end and you couldn’t tell if you wanted to reach that blissful sensation or if you never wanted this to end.

The merman almost growled before his lips latched onto your neck again. He nibbled, licked and sucked the skin much harsher than before, much less caring about his sharp teeth poking and pricking your skin but your dazed mind didn’t even register that nor did you care. All that mattered was this intense, blinding pleasure that coursed through your body each time he filled you, each time his scales rubbed along your clit, if anything his lips and teeth on your skin only managed to heighten the sensations, pushing you closer and closer, the pressure building. You tried meeting his hips, tried to clench your muscles and-

There was a growl and it was the only warning you got before V bit down. His teeth dug into the skin of your collarbone much harsher than just nibbling on it. If there was pain you didn’t notice, all you noticed was how your body suddenly erupted in spasms, your walls clenching around his cock inside of you, a breathless cry leaving your lips, teetering on the edge-

One more thrust, one more push of his tail, his scales sliding along your clit once more was all it took.

You whimpered, your muscles jumping and twitching beneath your skin as your climax washed over you once more. Your hands reached out to him as this blinding pleasure overtook your body, setting your nerves ablaze and making you feel as if you imploded from the inside out. You pressed yourself close to him, legs wrapped around his waist, arms around his shoulders, trembling and spasming.

The merman groaned as you clenched around him and if there was any control in him he lost it there and then, letting his mind and body get taken over by instincts. His tail pushed wildly against you, his cock slipping in and out of you harshly, the sensations causing your mind to get dizzy as he unintentionally prolonged your orgasm even longer. He just chased his own end. The movements of his tail and hips were rough, erratically, desperate and he groaned just as breathless as you were.

And then he moaned. A deep and sensuous sound that sent shivers down your spine as he twitched and shuddered against you. You gasped against him, still caught in the waves of your orgasm as you felt him spilling into you. His hands on your hips shook, his eyes were squeezed shut, he just twitched inside of you and held you close to him.

It seemed to go on forever before he finally stilled completely and you both just stayed like this, entangled in each other and catching your breaths. And, when the waves of bliss and pleasure slowly ceased and only left exhaustion but happiness and ease behind, did you carefully lower your legs from around him. V, breathless just as you, lowered you back into the gravel, pulling out of you rather harshly in the process and you inhaled sharply. He followed you though when you made a gesture that you wanted to kiss him.

The kiss was slow, a bit messy but oh, did it feel good. Right now you could hardly put into words how relaxed and content you were. When you broke the kiss V lowered his head once more to your skin. But instead of continuing his previous actions he pressed very soft and gentle pecks to your skin, fleeting kisses you barely felt. On your collarbone his tongue carefully poked at the skin there and your eye twitched as the place where he bit you stung a little bit. You were much more moved and surprised by his gentle treatment.

You smiled and slid your hands through his damp hair while he showered your skin in tender pecks and kisses, that seemed so deliberate compared to how instinctual some of his earlier ministrations were. After a while the merman stopped his caresses and instead slid lower on your body, still between your legs. You looked down, following his movements with wonder and confusion in your eyes. V stopped moving by the time he reached your belly. He rested his cheek against it, wrapped his arms around you, while his tail and most of his body were now completely submerged again, his fin occasionally appearing on the surface as a result of V’s tail’s leisured movements.

You smiled again. Whether he took this position because he wanted or needed to be in the water again did not really matter to you. There was just something so nice and comforting about how soft the merman was right now that it just allowed you to relax entirely.

You knew you had to get back to the ship at some point, especially once it got darker, but for now you could spend some more time here, basking in the aftermath of the previous events and enjoying how comfortable it was to lie here with him.


	12. Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite how much you enjoy your time with V there’s something that still needs to be dealt with and you don’t like it...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody,
> 
> here's the new chapter :D 
> 
> Thank you so much for all your lovely feedback! Even if you're just silently reading along it means a lot to me 💚
> 
> I hope you like the new chapter!
> 
> Enjoy! 💚🌹

You could only use the next one of Nico’s vial the next day. While you had planned to use it yesterday after your little relaxation on the beach you may or may not have fallen asleep and by the time you woke up it was already too late.

You slipped into the water again with his hands on your hips after you decided to leave your camera behind. Before you haven’t studied all of the photos V took you wouldn’t make new ones. As eager as you were to learn new stuff, you appreciated his attempt of helping you out simply too much. Taking new photos right now seemed kinda disregardful to you. Though this time you took a bag with containers for samples with you.

V nuzzled your neck for a moment, some clicking noises left his lips and you could feel his subtle smile against your skin. He raised his head again, and made a sound again, a short noise that sounded like a question but you came to realize over the last days, almost weeks by now, that this specific noise meant something alike ‘okay’ or ‘alright’.

You nodded and let yourself get pulled down by the merman. 

Once again seeing the world that spread below the surface took your breath away, figuratively speaking. It was just so stunning and beautiful that you didn’t know how to take it all in without getting overwhelmed. 

This time V did not give you as much time to take in the scenery as last time. The merman swam in front of you and reached for your hand almost right away before he pulled you with him. He led you to the other side of the island today, to where all the colorful corals, plants and creatures were and you were still so incredibly amazed by how all of these different living beings existed in this place.

You could hardly decide where to look first as the vast space full of corals and plants expanded before you, fish and other smaller beings filled the scenery with even more movement than just the gentle swings of the plants in the water. V pulled you a bit closer to the corals closest to you and pointed at the huge coral in front of you. It looked like a sebae anemone but the size and color scheme didn’t fit at all. It was almost big enough that you could almost lay down on it and it would cover most of your body. 

V swam next to you before he reached out his hand and reached right into the anemone(you would just call it that for now). The kinda long tentacles moved naturally in the flow of the water but some seemed to latch onto V’s skin. There was a small smirk on his lips as he looked at you, apparently encouraging you to do the same. You hesitated but ultimately your curiosity got the better of you and you carefully reached out your hand. You didn’t put your hand completely into the anemone, just your fingers but it was enough. There was a ticklish sensation as some of the tentacles latched onto your skin as well. It kinda felt like a very weak vacuum cleaner on your fingers and when you pulled your hand back - a very easy process - the skin, even in the water, felt so soft and smooth that you couldn’t hide the surprised expression. V smirked.

Admittedly though, skincare was the last thing you expected to happen and do down here. 

V pulled you further along, but not before you didn’t take a sample without damaging or hurting the animal. He showed you so many corals and tiny living beings that you almost had trouble keeping up, so many impressions and new discoveries; you felt like a child during christmas. The merman led you a bit further, although you were still close enough to the surface that you could vaguely make out the shape of the trees surrounding the island. You reached a space that was covered in what looked like completely normal bushes that also grew on land, they almost seemed out of place here. But when V swam into all these bushes, and picked something from them you could see a bunch of berries on his hand. 

And now that you knew what these bushes where the berries came from looked like you suddenly noticed much more of them. They grew in one big group where V just was but they were also scattered everywhere around you, you even spotted the outlines of some deeper into the water where the light barely reached them anymore.

Something nudged your back and if you could have you would have gasped in shock. So caught up in your surroundings and being amazed by it all you totally didn’t notice the sea lion being around and approaching you. Shadow seemed to grin as you turned around after the initial surprise faded. You patted it. And you noticed that this was the very first time that you actually touched the creature. Shadow gleamed in delight as it received pats and scratches and the sea lion leaned in close to you to get more of your affection. You chuckled, a sound that faded immediately in the water once it left your lips. 

V joined you, stroking his companion’s black fur until a small group of silver colored fish passed you by.

V’s hand shot upwards so fast that you thought you imagined to see any movement at all. In the blink of an eye he raised his hand and lowered it again. But now there was one of these silvery fish in his hand. You blinked in surprise at the incredible reflexes he’s just shown. Shadow’s eyes widened as it saw the fish and it darted off right away, chasing after these fish.

The fish in V’s hands struggled against the merman’s grasp and you were astounded by how… normal it looked. It almost looked boring compared to all these colorful creatures around you. V had a smirk on his face as he showed the fish to you before he held it up to his mouth and plunged his teeth into it. It was a bit messy, the merman didn’t care about how it looked he just tore through the flesh and fishbones like it was nothing. The bit of blood that escaped dissolved quickly into the water luckily. And still, you could not deny the look of absolutely glee on V’s face as he devoured the fish. You had no idea what these fish were, and despite how inconspicuous they looked, they seemed to be quite a treat, a delicacy even. That was probably the reason why Shadow darted off chasing after them, the sea lion wanted one of them as well.

You continued your little exploration further until V pulled you closer to him and pointed downwards at a small coral. You spotted a very small creature, something similar to an octopus, attached to a coral and just lingering there. It was a beautiful creature. The pink and green colors were so bright and outstanding that it also was really eye-catching. In fact its pattern looked close to the blue-ringed octopus, just with a different color scheme. You looked at V in question. He obviously showed it to you for a reason. The glance in his green eyes was hard and dark and he shook his head before he made a gesture that indicated more than obvious that you should not touch it. Maybe it was more similar to the blue-ringed octopus than you thought. You would make sure to remember to stay away from that thing. Although this encounter showed you once again that there were indeed dangers in these waters. As beautiful as everything down here was, there were threats around you probably should be cautious of.

The merman let you explore the scenery on your own a bit and caught himself another fish to eat. You used that time to fill the containers you brought with you in the bag hanging from your wrist with all kinds of samples for you to study later. Also Nico would be thrilled about these.

You flinched in surprise as webbed hands settled on your hips from behind and traveled to your belly to settle there. But when the merman pulled himself closer to you until you could feel his tail occasionally brushing up against your legs you smiled and relaxed again. Strands of white hair flowed next to your face, causing a tickling sensation to your cheek, as the merman pressed quick, soft pecks to your shoulders and neck. You smiled at the fleeting displays of affection, though you couldn’t help but to smile to yourself as a sole finger poked your skin and drew paths and trails on your skin which was still covered in red and purple patches. He truly seemed to have a thing for these markings.

You enjoyed the little moment between the two of you until the watch around your wrist started blinking rapidly and told you that you had to get back to the surface again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Nico was still all over the samples you brought with you, even after you explained them all to her and even after you spoke about nothing else but those during dinner. You were just in her lab to get more of that substance she made, otherwise you wanted to leave her alone and do her research and experiments on her own since you couldn’t really help and didn’t want to distract her either. Not to mention that you couldn’t wait to finally go to your cabin to get some rest. Your legs felt like they weighed a ton from all the swimming you did earlier… you really needed to work on your stamina.

There was a beeping sound and Nico’s face lightened up before she opened the little fridge(though give the sound it seemed more like a microwave now that you thought about it). She pulled out two of the vials with that weird liquid that opened so many new possibilities for you and handed them to you.

“Here ya go, your daily dose of my genius.” She grinned at you which you reciprocated. There was no denying that she was a genius. Who knew what kind of scientific awards she could win with this.

“Are you alright with making two of these each day? This isn’t too much for you?” you wanted to know as you put the vials away.

“Nah, two is fine. More than that may be tricky because I can only put two of them in here,” she pointed at the little fridge thing, “so three would be difficult since they need to rest in here for quite a while.”

You nodded.

“I’m working on making one that can last longer than just two hours. Goal would be one for 24 hours. While I do have the resources I have no idea yet if it’ll be a success.”

You looked up at her with surprise and a hint of excitement in your eyes. 24 hours?! You could spend an entire day and night underwater if you wanted to?! Nico must’ve caught your excitement since she chuckled but put her hands on your shoulders.

“Relax, take a deep breath. I know the prospect of being with your little mermaid down there is exciting but I can’t guarantee you that it’ll work.”

“I thought you’re a genius?!” you couldn’t help but grin at her yourself now.

“Touché.” She adjusted the glasses on her face. “But really, don’t expect results anytime soon. I will definitely need a few days to maybe weeks. Until then ya have to make due with these two.”

“I’ll manage. 24 hours down there would probably kill me. My body hurts after just two hours already.” Nico chuckled as a reply.

“It’s different than going diving a bit in proper gear, right?!”

“Totally. V tends to just pull me along most of the time, though that might just be because I’m too slow.” You crossed your arms in front of your chest as you contemplated that. You had no idea how fast V could swim if he truly wanted to. So far he’s been faster than a human, yes, but not significantly faster either. You wondered if he swam faster if you weren’t around.

“That fin isn’t just for show I assume, but if he pulls ya along or adjusts his speed so ya can keep up with him… that’s actually pretty thoughtful.”

You shrugged, “I guess so,” you murmured, “Though I have to say, I wonder if there are other mer creatures around. V is the only one I’ve seen so far and I haven’t come across any indication that there may be more in this area.”

“Maybe there aren’t. We still don’t know a lot about ‘em, but there is a chance that they live in solitude. Or together with their mate,” she winked at you and you pursed your lips before the heat could rush to your cheeks, “but in the end he very well might be the only mer creature in this whole area.”

If he was then you’d love to know if this was common or if V living here alone was an exception, but you hardly had a chance to figure that out. If he lived here alone and it was not common for his kind then it was kinda sad and you would love to know the reasons. But then again, he never truly seemed unhappy…

“We’ll see eventually, I guess,” you said finally, “I leave you alone. You probably have enough samples to last half a lifetime,” you continued with a smile. Nico grinned again.

“I sure do, thanks girl.”

“I got you covered. I’ll bring you more samples tomorrow.”

“I’ll be waiting. Have fun with your mermaid.”

You rolled your eyes but wished her a goodnight and left her lab. It’s gotten dark outside already when you entered the deck of the ship and found Nero with his arms crossed in front of his chest standing by the railing.

“Hey,” you greeted him.

“Hi,” he said. There was a stern look on his face as he looked over the ocean expanding in front of you and it wasn’t hard to figure out what he was thinking about.

“Has anything happened after the attack?” you asked him. He looked at you for a moment before he directed his gaze back at the ocean.

“No. Luckily. Though V certainly was a help.”

You looked up at him. “I could’ve done this by myself, that’s not an issue, but with him and his friends around I could take the time to make sure Kyrie was safe. We’ve been there before, I’m not gonna allow anything to happen to her.”

The demon arm he had clenched tighter around his other arm. You didn’t know what he was referring to, but by the way his jaw clenched, his gaze darkened and his muscles tensed you supposed it wasn’t a happy story, so you didn’t pry. It didn’t feel right for you to do so.

“Glad you’re okay by the way. When we got attacked we had no idea where you were. The message that bird brought was definitely a relief, for Kyrie especially.”

“I’m just glad that it worked out. Griffon is pretty reliable,” you replied, “I was at the beach of the island when it happened. One of V’s friends stayed with me, so I was safe.”

He studied your face for a moment before he nodded and silence settled upon you two. You wished him a good night eventually and went back to your cabin and looked through the photos V took for you again before finally going to bed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You groaned and stirred in your sleep as someone softly shook your shoulder. The sound of your name reached your ears as you were more and more pulled out of your sleep. Sleep-ridden and a bit groggy you turned around. You blinked multiple times as the light of the lamp hit your eyes and Kyrie’s face became clearer. She stood by the side of your bed, a smile of sympathy with one hand on your shoulder as she waited for you to wake up.

“Is something wrong?” you murmured, your voice still ridden by sleep. She nodded slightly.

“No, I don’t think so. But Nero wanted me to wake you. He asked if you could come to the deck.”

You blinked again but nodded after a while. Kyrie took a step back as you sat up in your bed and yawned. 

“I’ll be outside,” Kyrie said and left your cabin so you could change out of your PJs. There wasn’t a real sense of urgency in you since Kyrie didn’t seem distressed and she also said that nothing was wrong. You changed into some shorts and t-shirt and left your cabin. Kyrie smiled at you when she saw you and you both made your way to the deck.

It was still very early. The sun was barely rising, casting a faint orange glow onto the water’s surface while the early morning breeze traveled through the air and brought the smell of the saltwater closer to you. It was almost chilly outside at this time.

Nero didn’t seem too concerned as you joined him. He was watching the water’s surface with a slightly confused look on his face. His gaze softened when Kyrie walked up next to him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. The half-demon turned to you after a moment and nodded towards the place where he was staring at just now.

“Thought you wanted to know about this,” he said and you frowned as you approached the railing. That neither Nero nor Kyrie seemed to be worried or distressed was the only thing that kept you from getting nervous right now because the last time you were in a similar situation you spotted V unconscious and wounded lying on the rocks.

And just like last time you did spot V. But unlike last time he seemed to be completely alright. You breathed a sigh of relief.

The merman was sitting on the very same rock where you found him on that fateful day. He had his tail pulled towards him, as if he was pulling his knees against his chest, and his arms wrapped around it, the huge fin only slightly moved, it seemed to float on the surface without ever ducking below it. You couldn’t see his expression from the distance even though he wasn’t far away, but with the way he had his head turned towards the horizon and barely moved, he looked thoughtful.

But still, something was off. You’ve never seen him so thoughtful before nor has he ever come so close to the ship aside from that one day where his mind was probably only set on getting away from the threat. But this definitely wasn’t the case right now.

“Help me with the boat?” you asked Nero and the man nodded.

When Nero lowered the boat with you into the water the sounds it made caused V to look up. He observed what was happening for a short moment before he averted his eyes again and stared into the distance again. At this point it did make you worry a bit. He was always so curious, so intrigued by what you were doing and he’s been interested in the boat and ship before as well... so this was truly unnatural behavior.

V looked thoughtful, there was a frown on his face as he stared ahead that didn’t change at all the closer you got to him.

And still you couldn’t help but admire how he looked right now. With the orange light of the rising sun illuminating his form, giving his white hair such a pretty shine, his tail seemed to shimmer in a completely different color than usual, he almost looked like he was glowing; beautiful and breathtaking.

“V?” you said softly when you reached the big rock he was sitting on. The merman looked at you and you could see how much he was thinking about something. He kept your gaze for nothing more than the length of a heartbeat before his gaze shifted. He looked around intently, his gaze slid over the water’s surface all around him as if he was looking for something, causing the frown on his face to get deeper in the process. You could feel your heartbeat increasing as his unusual behavior. He looked around for quite a while, frowning and deeply lost in thought, before he moved from his position.

Without really looking at you he pushed himself off that rock and reached for your boat. Since you’ve gotten so close to the rock with it he didn’t even need to get into the water again. The boat swayed a bit as the merman climbed into it, the end of his tail leaning over the edge and again the fin seemed to float on the surface. V looked at you. He just looked into your eyes for a very long moment, the frown still in place, his mouth forming a straight line, his green eyes glistening with something you couldn’t identify. And before you could react, before you could even think about what to say or do, V’s expression softened. His frown vanished, he closed his eyes for a moment and a sigh left his lips and then he leaned in close.

The merman laid his head against your chest, his arms wrapped around your body and his fingers clutched your shirt. You could only sit there, with parted lips and racing heart as he pressed himself against you. It made you worry. Something was definitely off. The way he looked around just now, so serious and thoughtful as if he was searching for something… or waited for something. You exhaled deeply through your nose and slowly raised your arms to wrap them around the merman. One hand came to rest on his shoulder, the other tangled itself in his white hair, you felt his fin ear twitch as your fingers grazed it. His hands weren’t trembling but they held onto your shirt for dear life, drenching your clothes and skin in the water dripping from his body. It hardly mattered to you but what mattered was the creature in your arms, visibly distressed and you had no idea how you could help him.

Griffon’s chirp made you look up, though V did not move or react at all. The blue bird landed on the edge of your boat but he as well, just like V earlier, did look around a lot, inspecting the water’s surface and seemed to search or wait for something. At this point it made you nervous. What was going on?! 

Given V’s obvious distress and how concerned Griffon seemed to be… did this have something to do with him getting attacked that one day?

That could be an explanation for this strange and concerning behavior, V even sat on the same rock you found him on after the attack.

“Are you alright?” you asked softly and slowly. He should be able to understand these words. Greetings, goodbyes, thank you and this should be something he understood by now. His ears twitched as he looked up at you. Under different circumstances this may have been adorable but the serious expression on his face took completely away the positive feeling. He nodded but closed his eyes again for a moment. The merman sighed and released his hold on you and sat back.

Griffon let out a single short chirp and hopped onto V’s tail. They exchanged a few words, a mix of chirps and clicking sounds, before silence settled upon them and V looked off into the distance again.

“Is this… because of when you got hurt?” you dared to ask. V looked at you again, while Griffon translated your question. The merman nodded but his gaze darkened and the frown appeared on his face again.

“What happened?” you referred to the here and now, the reason why he was so distressed and serious all of a sudden. You didn’t know if you would get and understand an answer but Griffon translated it anyway. There was a moment of pause but then V tried to explain. He just talked as if you could understand him completely, probably out of habit, but he tried to show you what he was talking about with gestures.

It was difficult, you had to admit that, but some of the gestures he did reminded you of back then when he tried to convince you to leave the area and-

…!!!

Was this what it was all about?! You being here?! You knew people died here before, there were reasons for these waters being feared and uncharted. Nothing seemed like this, it was so beautiful here after all, but after this attack… V tried to tell you to leave back then. You also remembered that he was so hesitant when you asked him if you would see him again. He knew about the dangers here and he knew what would happen to you if you stayed. He got attacked because something wanted to attack you. And now he got to know about something that put him so on edge. Was that threat around again? Did it talk to V? But most of all this made you realize one thing.

“This is… my fault,” you whispered breathlessly. Your chest tightened painfully as the realization sank in that V wouldn’t have gotten hurt if you had listened to him, if you hadn’t sought him out again and again. “If I had just listened to you… you’d be alright and…” The burning behind your eyelids was the only warning you got before you could already feel the tears forming and rolling down your cheeks. You felt horrible and you couldn’t help the shaking of your shoulders as you started to sob quietly. You lowered your head, tried to avoid looking into his eyes because he surely didn’t need to see you like this nor did you wanna burden him with your sudden emotional breakdown.

Webbed fingers appeared in your blurry vision and almost cautiously cupped your face. You tried to smile as he lifted your face to meet his eyes but you failed miserably, the tears just kept coming. You’ve been so happy with him during your time here, and he as well, but this… this is not what you wanted to happen at all.

Green eyes stared at your face, full of wonder but also worry as he softly touched the tears on your cheeks. He probably never saw tears before and you almost chuckled but the sound came out as a sound between a chuckle and a sob. You exhaled heavily through your mouth, you felt so tired suddenly, and allowed yourself to lean forward. V pulled his hands from your face as you leaned closer and he held them up a bit lost when your forehead came to rest against his shoulder until he eventually laid them on your upper arms, webbed fingers wrapping around them. The contact was soothing, his cool skin against yours calmed you down enough that your sobs eventually stopped and the tears ceased, though it didn’t manage to take all the pain of your realization away from you.

When you pulled back the merman let his hands stay on your arms for a while longer and he made a clicking sound. You rubbed your eyes but gave him a smile, exhausted but it was there, and nodded as you came to realize the sound was the same as your earlier question. You felt terrible but there was no reason to pull him down with you. 

You looked up, away from him, to calm you down more and to get your breathing back under control. V frowned again and watched you, but after he was certain you were alright (alright enough at least) he directed his attention at Griffon again.

Something changed.

The way these two talked and communicated seemed… different. More serious, darker even, whatever they talked about it was important and you felt like you shouldn’t interrupt and wait.

The conversation lasted for quite a while, it made you curious but more than anything nervous. Something was happening and you had no idea what and if you could do anything about it. You could just sit there, stinging eyes and racing heart, and watch as these two creatures had the most serious discussion you ever witnessed between them.

When the conversation finally ended V looked down, lost in thought for a moment before he looked at you again. He watched your face intently for a very long while and you could only stare back, just keep his intense stare that made your heart race and took your breath away, though this time because it created a weird feeling inside of you, as if you wouldn’t like whatever came next.

The merman inched closer to you until there was barely any space left between the two of you, his eyes never left yours, before his webbed fingers reached up again to cradle your face in his hands. And then his lips were on yours. He pressed his lips against yours with such a passion and devotion that it made you tremble, the gasp that built up in your chest never made it to your lips and was swallowed up by V’s soft and full ones engaging you in a kiss so fiery and searing you never thought possible for a mer creature. It made your body weak and your mind foggy. But there was also a faint sense of something less pleasurable in it. There was something about that kiss that seemed like it had a purpose.

And when you two parted, both breathless and skin flushed, he still held onto your face. He made a clicking sound, similar to when he greeted you, before he reached for the watch around your wrist. You stared with parted lips and slight confusion in your eyes as he made the very same gesture on your watch that you did while he was still in the tank and had to leave him for a certain period of time.

And then it dawned on you.

He wanted to leave. Or... he had to. You couldn’t tell.

Not forever, that’s what that gesture was supposed to show you, but he had to go. Whatever was happening he had to deal with it somehow and it involved him leaving you for now. You sighed, of course sad, but you understood. You just hoped that this wasn’t something dangerous, that you didn’t have to worry about his safety again (you would anyway). You nodded.

V gave you a small smile, barely visible but his expression softened for this short moment at least. He pressed his lips against yours for another quick peck, nothing more, just a fleeting contact before he jumped into the water. He appeared on the surface again, if only for an instant to wave at you and to nod towards Griffon who apparently would stay behind for some reason.

And then he turned around and left. You only caught the hint of Shadow’s face peeking out from the water’s surface as the creature joined V before the merman swam away into the direction of the open waters.

You sighed again. You still felt terrible, but now there was also a sense of loneliness mixing into it that you couldn’t really explain. You turned the boat around. You had, for the very first time in your life, no motivation to explore or investigate the life of the sea.

Griffon stayed with you even when Nero helped you getting the boat back onto the ship.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He needed to do something about this.

He couldn’t let this continue.

But he knew he couldn’t do this on his own. He felt the consequences of dealing with _him_ by himself still in his body and soul.

But _he_ had to be dealt with.

He refused to give up on his partner or let _him_ hurt her. He wanted to keep that feeling of safety and comfort and belonging and mirth to stay. He didn’t want to go back to before, didn’t want to be alone anymore.

So he had to fight for what was important to him and what he cherished.

He let _him_ rule over him and others for far too long. This would all come to an end. He would do something about it. But he couldn’t do this alone.

So he would leave and find the help that he needed.


	13. Absence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You try to make the best out of your time while V is gone…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody,
> 
> here is the new chapter <3
> 
> A bit shorter than usual but I hope it's still worth it. I have to say that I'm really curious what you'll have to say about the ending of this chapter 🤭
> 
> I hope you like it!
> 
> Enjoy! 💚🌹

It must’ve been your puffy eyes and your early return that led to Kyrie walking up to you on the deck and pulling you into a hug. Your shoulders shook and you couldn’t stop the sob from escaping. You really didn’t want to. You felt exhausted enough but apparently you haven’t let out everything just yet. Kyrie was incredibly patient with your unexpected emotional outburst. She murmured soothing words to you, rubbed your back and just waited until your shoulders stopped shaking and the tears ceased again. Nero was thoughtful enough and left the two of you alone after he saw you crying in Kyrie’s arms while Griffon landed on the railing and observed the scene playing out in front of him.

“What happened?”

You sipped on the tea Kyrie prepared after you made your way to the little table where you tended to eat together. The hot beverage seemed to succeed in soothing your nerves and the steam filled your nose with the pleasant smell of chamomile. You took a deep breath of that nice smell before you told Kyrie and Nero, who joined you after you calmed down again (Nico was still in her lab, you would have to fill her in later), about what happened just now with V and his departure.

“This is all my fault.” You sighed as you finished your explanation. You sipped on the tea to distract yourself from getting overwhelmed by your emotions again. Kyrie laid her hands on your shoulder.

“Hardly,” Nero said and crossed his arms in front of his chest. You looked up at him. “If anything, it’s our fault and his just as much and even all that is debatable,” he said and furrowed his brows. 

“Why didn’t I just listen to him?” you murmured.

“Come on, I was against all of this from the beginning but I wouldn’t have listened to him in your place either. He also could’ve just stayed away,” Nero countered though he raised his eyebrows when it didn’t really comforted you.

“Listen, look at what happened between you and him after that. You honestly think he blames you for any of that?!”

You looked at Nero, contemplating his words. Everything between you and V pretty much developed after that incident. In a way it seemed to be the catalyst. You had no idea where you and V would have been now, if this incident hadn’t happened. And V never seemed to blame you. There was the question how far his cognitive skills went but given how serious he was earlier, how thoughtful he was, you didn’t doubt he was capable of blaming someone for something. And he didn’t. Whatever the thing between you and the merman was he never seemed to blame you for anything. If anything, he even seemed to have apologized when he earlier showed you that he had to leave. Not to mention that kiss…

Maybe you truly were overreacting. Maybe it was just the overwhelming feelings and sensations of that situation that got to you so much. Maybe you should calm down, try to relax, continue your work, wait for V’s return and hope that everything will turn out well.

“Thanks for your help, guys. This… really stressed me out,” you said. Kyrie rubbed your shoulders and smiled at you.

“Maybe take a break? Just stay here on the ship and relax for a while?” she suggested and you sighed. But you nodded. Maybe this was really the way to go for you for now.

“Sounds good I guess,” you said. Kyrie smiled and even Nero grinned. Then apparently it was now time to be unproductive.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You felt much better the next day. There still was this constant thought where V was, what he was doing since he was gone for over 24 hours already, but there was nothing you could do, although the sense of worry was still always present in the back of your mind.

You went onto the deck with the intention to put your bag with materials into the boat before Nero could help you getting it into the water. Distracting yourself by working seemed to be the right thing to do for you. You would just have to try not to keep looking out for the merman while you were out there.

The small bolt of lightning that struck the ground right before you reached the boat made you let out a startled yelp. Nero was on the deck before you had time to process what just happened nor to notice Griffon sitting on the edge of the boat in front of you.

“What’s going on? Are you alright?” Nero wanted to know, brows knitted and blue eyes darkened. You took a deep breath to calm your racing heart and you just stared at the blue bird in shock.

“I think so,” you said a bit breathless. Griffon chirped and stretched out his wings, the blue feathers still sizzled with the electricity. Nero didn’t leave, instead he approached the bird on the boat.

“What’s wrong with you?!” he yelled at the bird. The bird tilted its head and puffed out his feathers, completely non-impressed by the half-demon. You stared at him completely confused but took a step forward to put your stuff into the boat anyway.

You didn’t get very far.

Griffon’s little body burned and crackled with electricity strong enough that it made the hairs on your arm stand on edge. You took a step back. Griffon calmed down, the sizzling got weaker. What was going on?!

“Crazy chicken,” Nero muttered irritated. Griffon chirped loudly, it was easy to understand Nero’s statement offended him.

“You… don’t want me to go?” you asked after a long pause, your voice hesitant and quiet. Griffon turned his yellow eyes at you, but eventually the bird nodded. Your mouth opened as if to say something but no words came out. Nero stared at Griffon a while longer, his blue eyes glistening with irritation, but then he turned to you.

“I have no idea what that crazy chicken is up to. But maybe you rather stay here,” he told you. You didn’t react to him, you just kept staring at the bird. Nero patted your shoulder shortly before he left you alone, muttering something under his breath.

You knew Griffon didn’t have any intention to harm you with his lightning abilities and as impressive as they were that he was so serious about you staying on the ship that he used them to intimidate you… it sent shivers down your spine.

Whatever was going on seemed to be much more serious than you anticipated. And now you also knew why Griffon stayed behind and didn’t go with V.

You let your head hang and sigh.

You felt the weight of the little bird on your shoulder as he nudged your face with his strangely shaped beak. Your lips twitched at the comforting gesture from the bird who was so reluctant to let you touch him before.

“Aww how cute,” Nico exclaimed and her appearance startled Griffon so much that the bird nearly fell off your shoulder. You were pretty sure a bird couldn’t blush but if he were human he probably would’ve turned as red as the stripes on his body in embarrassment, he had a reputation as a big scary bird to uphold after all. You chuckled, your mood finally lighting up again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He hated it here.

As his eyes peeked out of the water’s surface and he spotted the island still quite a distance away all he could think of was that he wanted to go back. Back to his home, the normally calm waters, back to his friends, back to his mate. He could see the shapes of so many beings like his mate on the island, moving around hectically, there were so many of the same things his partner used to swim on the water, and he could hear the sounds of them. So many voices that reached his ears even from such a distance.

It overwhelmed him. And made him feel lost.

He wanted to go back.

His companion nudged his shoulder and he patted the creature. It didn’t like being here either, but he could feel the sense of curiosity all over it. But they couldn’t and shouldn’t and he didn’t want to get closer. He didn’t trust all this turmoil. Too many beings he didn’t know, too many sounds, too many unmoving objects he’s never seen before. He should stay away.

But at the same time, this was the area where he would supposedly find the help he needed.

The merman dived back down. He hoped he could find what he was looking for fast and could return soon. Even if the real mission would only start then.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You rubbed your eyes as you felt them getting heavier. It was late by now. The sun has long gone down and Nero and Kyrie have gone to bed already as well(you wouldn’t place a bet on Nico though, she seemingly never slept). You were getting tired but at the same time you didn’t feel like going to sleep just yet. You were looking through the photos V took that one day with your camera again on your laptop. You’ve looked at them countless times by now and by now you have memorized most of them even.

However, there were quite a few pictures that were taken by V randomly pressing the trigger while swimming where you could basically see only water. You haven’t paid them any real mind yet because the pictures with plants and creatures on them were far more interesting and you got some pretty interesting information just by looking at them. But the thought occurred to you that you might be able to see more on these randomly taken pictures than you initially thought.

And one, or rather a few, seemed very interesting to you now that you inspected them closer. They were all the photos of the same thing but from different angles. On first glance he seemed to have pointed the camera at a place where the rocks and corals ended and the ocean got deeper. The photos were really dark. But the shape was too odd. It looked like a black circle surrounded by dark, unlighted water… like a black hole almost. And the more you looked at all the photos from the same thing the stranger it seemed to you. You had no doubt that this hole led much further down, maybe there were even some hidden caves and rock formations, deep enough that they weren’t visible and only left the illusion of a black hole behind.

But… given everything you figured out so far about what happened to V, about the dangers in these waters, your first thought was that this had something to do with it. Because by now you knew that whoever hurt V was nearby, it was somewhere in these waters, but you also knew it wasn’t close to the surface, at least not all the time. Just judging by how worried V was before he left, how Griffon and he observed the water’s surface… if that thing had been nearby before V wouldn’t have allowed you go diving with him. He was too protective of you for that.

Your mind lingered on that last thought for a long time.

He truly was, wasn’t he?! How furious he got when that demon attempted to attack you on the beach that day and now this. It wasn’t just for you, that thought went too far, but you were partly the reason. V even left Griffon behind to stay with you, so he had an eye on you while V was gone. You had no idea for how long V and Griffon have been companions, friends, whatever their bond was, but leaving like this without all of his friends… you couldn’t help but think that it was something grave, as if this gesture was a proof for how much the merman cared about you.

You tried to hide it but your lips curved upwards into a smile all by themselves while your heart seemingly skipped a beat at the thought.

You were in such deep trouble.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Two more days passed without any signs of V’s return. And while you were still worrying about him, Griffon seemed to be rather calm. You just hoped that the bird knew more about this or at least knew that V would return. You had no idea where V went or what he was doing. It could be something dangerous but it also could be a harmless mission, you didn’t know and you couldn’t ask anyone.

So you could only wait.

You were helping Kyrie with the dishes in the kitchen in the early evening when you heard Griffon’s loud and agitated chirps and whistles outside. You knitted your brows at the sounds but Kyrie just smiled.

“Go and see what’s up. I can handle the rest,” she said.

“You sure?” you asked. Kyrie just nodded. You thanked her and headed out. You couldn’t deny the very faint feeling of excitement rising up inside of you at the noises by the bird because maybe, just maybe they meant that…

You opened the door the to deck and almost ran face-first into Griffon who wanted to get inside but had no way to do so. He just kept chirping while his little claws grabbed the fabric of your shirt to pull you you into a certain direction towards the railing. You almost laughed.

It was then that you heard voices. More than one. And they came from the ocean. You trembled slightly in anticipation as you grabbed the railing and looked over it and down into the water.

The relief of seeing V was only topped by the surprise of seeing two other mer creatures down there with him. White hair, just like V’s, but you caught glimpses of fins that resembled those of sharks much more than anything else, they were not as colorful and pretty as V’s. These two resembled each other a lot. The thought of brothers crossed your mind immediately. Your mind and heart were caught in a tug of war at wanting to get down there to hug V and show him how happy and glad you were that he was back and the curiosity and the wonder of truly encountering two more mer creatures.

Griffon whistled, pulling you out of your thoughts and gaining the attention from the three creatures down there.

V’s gaze caught yours and even from this little distance you could see how his features lightened up, how his fin ears twitched. He made his usual clicking sound to greet you, loud enough that you could hear it clearly and waved at you. You waved back, smiling down at the merman. God, you missed him. The two other mermen looked up at you as well. One frowned, the other grinned and opened his mouth.

“Hello!”

You almost passed out from shock.


	14. Descent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The three mer creatures set out to fulfill their mission~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody,
> 
> welcome back! Thank you so much for all your lovely feedback on the last chapter! I'm really happy that the ending of it was so well received <3
> 
> I hope you like this new chapter!
> 
> Enjoy! 💚🌹

“Hello!”

Your hands were grabbing the railing so hard that your knuckles turned white, but for a moment you truly felt your knees would give out under you. You stared down at the grinning merman who waved now as well. Did… did he just talk?!

“Did someone say ‘hello’?” Nero entered the deck with his eyebrows raised up, he looked just as confused as you felt. You pointed downwards, unable to say anything. The half-demon followed the direction of your finger.

“What the...?!” he murmured, brows furrowed as he stared at the three creatures.

“Oh! Another! Hello!”

“The fuck…?! Since when can they talk?!” he looked at you now after the grinning merman greeted him as well. You just shrugged. You still couldn’t believe your ears. But at the same time… if they were the same creatures… then V could learn to speak as well?! You haven’t tried to properly teach him human speech, there were assumptions and theories and you supposed as much too, that all mer creatures were capable of human speech, but… you didn’t expect to come across any mer creature to begin with… and now one of them could even talk… and V was back, safe and sound too… what a day…

V made a waving gesture for you to come down to them and you nodded. You wouldn’t ever say no to that. Nero grumbled, disbelief and confusion over the situation were written all over his features and body language, but he helped you getting the boat into the water.

Your heart was beating in your throat and you felt your hands trembling in excitement as you approached all three mermen, though your gaze was focused on V who met you halfway. Webbed hands settled on the edge of the boat and he pushed himself up to reach your face. You smiled when his lips met yours, so glad and relieved about his return and kind of getting the confirmation again that he did not blame you for anything that happened. He pulled back after the short and sweet peck on your lips and lowered himself back into the water until only his head peeked out from the surface.

“Ah. Then you’re the guy’s mate. And the reason we’re here,” one of the two merman said, his white hair fell into his face and partly obscured his blue eyes as he grinned at you again, but his words only made your face fell. V made a clicking sound, looking up at you with a hint of concern in his eyes. You were the reason… The other merman tilted his head.

“Told us he had to protect his mate. How can we say no to that?!”

You literally breathed a sigh of relief and when you looked at V you gave him a smile, the true weight of the words the merman just spoke only slowly sank in.

The merman, who hasn’t said a thing yet, huffed.

“Oh, just wait ‘til you have a mate too, Vergil.” The grinning merman seemed to pout.

“You don’t have one either, Dante.”

“Not yet.” the merman, Dante, grinned at the other. Vergil shook his head. You couldn’t help but think that these were very deliberately chosen names for mer creatures. You wondered who these two really were.

“How come that you can talk?” you asked and interrupted their little banter. Dante looked at you.

“Grew up around humans,” Dante replied.

“We’re half-demons,” Vergil added. Your mouth made an “oh” shape. 

“Yep, our old man was a demon, our mother a mermaid,” Dante said. So that meant… mer creatures and other creatures could… now that was surely interesting to know. And pretty important at that as well.

“Can he…?” You nodded towards V who was watching your conversation out of intrigued and curious eyes, and pointed at your mouth with your fingers. Dante nodded.

“Sure, just needs a bit of practice.”

These news actually put a smile onto your face. Not to mention that you now knew what you would try doing with him next. It would probably take a long time but the prospect of being capable of talking and having normal conversations with him was so thrilling and exciting that the urge to start right now was almost overwhelming. You hoped, though you assumed as such, V was alright with this.

“Where do you come from? Are you from around here?” you wanted to know. Again, Dante answered while Vergil had an eye on the area.

“No, we’re from further away. Eh, I guess not that far though. There’s the mainland a few hours away from here? Lots of your kind go on vacation there. Guess the thrill of being near this area here is quite tempting for your kind.”

You knew about place. With your ship you would need a few hours to reach it. But it was nothing but a tourist destination. Nico said they could stock up their supplies on groceries and stuff there but they had no way to build up a lab there or anything. That’s why you didn’t go there first before coming here but instead took the long route and explored the waters on the way here too. You never would’ve expected that mer creatures lived around there.

“Are people aware of you there?” you asked then. Vergil huffed.

“Eh yeah? Some? The ladies are nice there. They share their pizza with me all the time,” Dante said.

“Pizza?!”

“Hell yes! Hey, you have any on the ship?!” 

“Eh… I don’t think so?” you looked a bit lost. Pizza was the last thing you expected a mer creature to eat, not to mention that these two mermen looked more like sharks than anything else, you didn’t really think that they even could eat pizza. And you truly didn’t think you had any pizza dough on board or else you probably would’ve had some during your time on the ship.

“Damn,” Dante exclaimed but there was no indication he truly was disappointed by that, “guess I should’ve known that. The guy had no idea what pizza is. Hey!” he said then and waved you closer to him as he got closer to the boat. His fingers were webbed just as V’s but he had longer and sharper nails than V, almost like claws. You were a bit hesitant but you did lean down a bit further. 

“You should totally get your mate some. He looks like he could need it,” Dante quietly suggested, almost whispered even though he knew V could not understand him.

You only caught a glimpse of white and turquoise before V had pushed himself up and was with you on the boat. Webbed fingers wrapped around your arm and back before a hiss left the merman’s lips. You sat back, confused and surprised, as V arched his back and his spinal fin flared up, the hiss and glare aimed at Dante who pulled back, though he seemed more surprised than intimidated by V’s unusual display of aggression.

Only when Dante retreated from the boat did V’s features relax again, his muscles lost their tension, his gaze softened, though his spinal fin barely relaxed, there was a sense of wariness and caution still present in the way it made slight up and down movements.

You laid a hand on top of the one that held onto your arm and smiled at him, both to calm him down and reassure him everything was alright. You knew, as much as it still caught you off guard, what caused that reaction from him and the reasons why he did it. As flattering as it was you still would have to make sure this wouldn’t become a common occurrence.

V looked at you, eyes glistening with a silent question. You kept up the smile on your face as you nodded and your heart skipped a beat when he reciprocated the smile and leaned down until his head came to rest in the crook of your neck. He either had no sense of privacy or that concept didn’t exist for mer creatures… or he simply didn’t care at all. Whatever it was you allowed it, reached for one of his hands to hold it in yours, and basked in the feeling of comfort washing over you with having him close again. You really missed him…

Dante chuckled, though V didn’t react to it, but Vergil shook his head behind him.

“So… can I ask you maybe?” you started carefully. The two mermen looked at you while V’s fin ear twitched and grazed your skin, indicating that he was listening to you despite not understanding you.

“What’s going on? Why are you here?” you wanted to know and you looked between the two mermen who went quiet for a moment. Griffon reappeared, who apparently flew around the island and observed the waters.

“The area is clear,” Vergil said, directed at Dante, after Griffon chirped. V, his head still resting on your shoulder, made a clicking sound to which Griffon left again.

“Good. So,” Dante started, clapping his webbed and clawed hands together, “there lives a demon in this area. Pretty big, pretty strong and the guy kinda rules over this area. He doesn’t have a name but I guess in human language Urizen comes the closest to what we call him. Most demons around here follow his command.”

“Useless pests,” Vergil commented when Dante paused. He grinned.

“Yep. Well, the guy doesn’t do anything to the creatures around here normally and stays in his hole or wherever he lives, so no one really does anything against him,” Dante shrugged before he continued, “he just gets mad when there are intruders around.” He paused again and nodded towards V.

“Apparently our friend V here had a run-in with him when that demon wanted to get rid of you.”

It was subtle but the grip around your hands still cradling V’s in your lap got a bit firmer. You squeezed his hand reassuringly, though the sting in your heart because of his obvious distress at remembering that encounter was painful to bear.

“But V also got a message with him that if he cared so much about the invaders then he was supposed to make sure that you left again. Or else he would do it himself. But well, you better not try to take away our mates, that’s… not a good idea, no matter how big or strong our foe may be.” Dante scratched the back of his head and you couldn’t help the blush appearing on your cheeks at the thought of V being that protective of you. 

But now everything made sense to you. Why V was so thoughtful and serious before he left, why he had such long discussions with Griffon, why Griffon did everything he could to avoid you leaving the ship again. That demon down there supposedly gave V some time to make you leave, but V never attempted that, he did not want you to leave, quite the opposite in fact. But his time was running out.

“Are you here to… fight that demon?” you asked carefully and even though these two mermen looked incredibly strong, they had a much more different physique than V(and even V wasn’t weak at all), given what that demon did to V and his also very powerful companions, it worried you still…

Dante grinned and even Vergil smirked. “Exactly!” Dante said. “That demon got a free pass for way too long, it’s gotta end. We don’t reside in this area but if that thing thinks he can eventually come to our place and ruin my free supply of pizza, hell no.”

You were kinda baffled. But you also weren’t sure why. Either because of his confidence or his love for pizza. The concept of a mer creature enjoying pizza was still as weird as it was amusing.

“Will you be alright, though?” you asked carefully. You didn’t wanna think about what might happen to them or anyone else if that mission failed.

“Oh we will be. That thing has nothing on us.” Dante grinned again. You nodded. There was nothing else you could do but to believe him and you hoped he had his reasons for being so confident.

“We should proceed in the morning. The lighting down there won’t bother us then.”

“I guess,” Dante commented on Vergil’s suggestion. “Hey, V.”

V looked up from your shoulder at the merman after hearing his name. Dante made clicking sounds, so you assumed that these sounds and noises were the mer creature’s common language and way of communication.

Dante yawned after he finished talking and revealed at least one row of razor sharp teeth. They may be mermen as well but they were still an entirely different kind than V. In the back of your mind the thought creeped up that just maybe you would get to talk to them about mer creatures in general after all of this was over.

V nodded only. He sat up next to you and pulled his hands from yours to cradle your face for a moment. He made another clicking sound and pressed a peck to your lips before jumping from the boat into the water again.

“He said goodnight,” Dante winked at you. You smiled, although a bit bashful.

“Goodnight,” you said and your smile broadened at how V’s features lightened up and he waved at you just before he dived down.

“Until later then.” Dante made a more saluting than waving gesture to you before following V. Vergil followed silently.

You sat back and your shoulders slumped. You would need a while to let all of that information sink in. Not to mention that you would need to explain that to the others because there were three pair of eyes leaning over the railing of the ship who watched everything that just occurred between you and the mermen.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They made their move as soon as the early streaks of sunlight hit the water’s surface. While Dante would’ve loved to sleep some more, the prospect of a great fight was enough to wake him up completely. That reminded him that he and his brother haven’t sparred properly in quite a while now as well. They would need to change that after this.

He and Vergil followed V through the rocks and waters. Dante had to admit that it was a pretty neat place the guy picked to spend his life in, rather lonely too though. While there were demons and other creatures around, he even befriended some apparently, he was the only creature with that level of intellect around. And hell, even in this dangerous and lonely area this guy managed to find and woo his mate. 

He was doing something wrong in his life…

V stopped once they reached the path that led deeper into the ocean, far below all these rocks and the island and to their destination. There was a sense of dread all over the merman. Even the two demons at his side were not capable of taking that feeling away from him. And still, the merman’s gaze was dark and determined, there was no indication at all that he wanted to stay behind.

“Hey,” the clicking sound was carried easily through the water and caught V’s attention instantly. Aside from V being unable to understand human speech, their natural way of communicating was much more comfortable and easy to use, especially below the surface. The human speech just did not work properly underwater. It sounded distorted, slurred and barely managed to reach another creature’s ears.

“Does that mean you’re going too?”

“I have a duty to see this through.”

Dante almost huffed but ultimately he had to admit he was a bit impressed. Mer creatures were no flight creatures but it entirely depended on the area they live in to whether they had a keen sense of flight or fight. In an area like this a fight instinct was generally not needed(since even that demon does not bother them without provocation), they did not have a lot of natural enemies either. It was different for Dante and Vergil, but mostly to their upbringing and them being half-demons. Fighting was their life. But it wasn’t V’s. So this was an interesting turn of event. Dante wondered if the prospect of his mate and friends being at stake gave his determination a boost as well.

“Make haste, Dante.” Vergil’s clicking noises reached his ears and he grinned when his brother was already descending and swimming into this pitch black area. Dante and V with his companions followed.

“You know,” Dante started after a while, “we should’ve brought the ladies. They would love this.”

“And how? One is human and the other is a demon with no affiliation to a creature of the sea,” Vergil countered with a frown on his face. Dante made a face but couldn’t disagree. Still, these two were the most badass women in the world he knew, they would’ve enjoyed kicking a demon’s ass like this.

The scenery and atmosphere shifted the deeper they ventured down. Sunlight didn’t reach this area anymore and yet their path was lit. Stones and crystals created and influenced by demonic energy, which even filled the water around them. Dante was almost impressed. At least this kind of energy explained why no ordinary demon or creature dared to fight Urizen. 

But they were not ordinary demons. And what V told them when he found them was correct. Urizen has been in control for far too long. He was not the strongest creature in the ocean, he was just tolerated by the ones who could easily put him in his place.

Which was exactly what they were about to do.

And when they reached the wide open space, deep beneath the surface, and the huge demon rose in front of them, Dante grinned.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You swayed your legs back and forth, disturbing the water in the otherwise empty tank and kicking it so it splattered over the edge and onto the floor. Your mind was restless but so was your body. You desperately wanted to do something, anything, but your mind wasn’t capable of focusing on a single thing and you couldn’t go outside and explore the area either. Griffon sitting outside on the railing of the deck, keeping an eye out for anything happening in the ocean but also on you to prevent you from getting into your boat, made sure of that.

You knew what was going on so deep beneath the surface of these waters. And you had no idea what to expect as a result. You were just thinking about that V went with these two other mermen. You saw how terrifying that demon, which that threat apparently was, could be. You saw V’s wounds and injuries and you just prayed that he wouldn’t get hurt again. 

Griffon didn’t seemed too worried at all. You could see him sitting on the railing through the open door to the hall. His head was turned so he could properly inspect and observe the ocean’s surface with his yellow eyes but there was no agitation or uneasiness in his movements at all. It did put your own mind at ease as well but the worry never left, you just couldn’t help it.

Even though he hadn’t seeked you out before going on this mission you knew they started during sunrise. You barely slept, so you were already awake and on deck by that time. And when Griffon settled on the railing when the first beams of sunlight hit the ship you knew they were about to begin. It’s been hours by now since then.

You just hoped V would return soon.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dante grinned as the giant demon fell. There was a satisfaction and a sense of excitement taking over the half-demon as he witnessed the power of Urizen dwindling until it was nothing but a weak pulse disrupting the now much calmer atmosphere around them. 

Urizen groaned, a sound that was more like a vibrating wave that filled the cave they were in but he had nothing to left to defend himself against the brothers and V with his companions. All that left was the final strike. One more attack to end that demon’s life for good.

Dante’s expression turned serious, the grin faded and left behind a burning determination in his light blue eyes as he approached the fallen demon king.

But a raised hand by V stopped him in his tracks. 

Dante raised his eyebrows at the merman.

“No! Please…” V’s voice was shaking, the clicking noises sounded strangled, “Let me. I want to end this battle… with my own hands.”

Dante made a face. It sounded a bit too dramatic in his opinion but the merman nodded once and swam a bit back to leave him some space. He could understand why he wanted to end this himself. This was his home, he was beaten and almost killed by Urizen before, it was his initiative to bring an end to his reign, Dante probably would’ve wanted to deliver the finishing blow as well. Though he could also feel a sense of pride in the other merman. To prove himself, to make a statement, to be able to impress his mate, whatever it was it was all too familiar to Dante as he saw that behavior in his brother a lot as well. Vergil hovered near Urizen, expression dark and determined as he stared the demon down just in case he could muster the strength to make another move. Though Urizen hardly even flinched.

V swam towards the beaten demon, his two companions were in a safe distance behind him, ready to get involved should something happen to him. There was a growl by Urizen as the merman floated above him, his webbed hands settled on the broken armored skin to take the position he needed to end this. The huge demon tried to struggle, pathetic attempts to save his own life to which V even replied, though from what reached Dante’s ear it was more a taunt than anything else. V definitely was not a fighter, but he had an impressive will, he had to give him that.

There was a pause and a moment of silence.

And the image of V baring his own sharp teeth was the only warning and the final vision Urizen received before the merman plunged his teeth deep into the already broken skin, tearing through the vital veins and arteries with ease. It was a mess. There was something feral about the way the merman ended Urizen’s life. There was no holding back, no mercy, just instincts and a hatred for that creature.

V retreated from the demon after he was sure there was no life left in him. The blood on the merman’s body was not his own and it dissolved quickly in the water around them and it took a while until V’s expression softened, until his muscles lost their tension and left him again in that exhausted state from before.

The dead body of Urizen lay still bleeding in the cave but there was no need for them to do anything. Other demons and creatures would soon catch the smell of it and feed on it until there was nothing left of it. In fact, the demon that resembled a crocodile already took to it. V’s companion approached Urizen’s body and started on getting its fill. Dante suddenly started craving pizza again…

“Let’s get out of here,” Vergil said after a while. Dante agreed. No need to stay around any longer. They turned around to leave through the passages and tunnels in the rocks. Dante only turned around again to make sure the other merman would follow them. He caught V swimming to the ground of the cave to pick something up, what Dante couldn’t identify, before the sea lion and V followed the two half-demons out of there, the crocodile demon stayed behind to seemingly enjoy his feast.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Your mind didn’t even catch up on your body’s reaction once you heard Griffon’s hectic and excited chirps. It just jumped up from where you sat on the table, and ran towards the deck, water dripping down your legs and bare feet and leaving a wet trail behind on the floor.

Griffon nodded towards the island and you ran up to the bow of the deck to have a better look at the area.

And when you spotted three heads of white shiny hair emerge from behind the island and a sea lion, swimming towards your side of the area, seemingly all alright but most definitely alive and safe, you immediately turned on your heels to run to your boat.

“Nero!” you called out. The door to the deck swung open within a few moments, it almost surprised you just how quickly he always reacted. He looked at you, a silent question on his face since you calling out his name did not sound scared or threatened at all.

“They’re back! Please help me with the boat,” you said quickly and already worked on getting it into the water. Nero smiled as he approached you.


	15. Calming Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You can finally enjoy your time with V again. And Nico has a surprise for you~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody~
> 
> we're almost done with the fic. I can't really believe that time passed so quickly, but oof, I'm happy <3
> 
> I hope you enjoy the new chapter! 💚

By the time the boat was in the water and you moved towards the mermen V already spotted you. You couldn’t see anything below his eyes but you could see how they lightened up, how a spark of something pleasant, something excited crossed those clear green orbs, and the merman sped up, moved his tail just a bit faster to reach you sooner. The gesture made your heart beat faster but it was drowned out by the realization that V was safe and alright and back with you. Despite facing another encounter with that demon who hurt him terribly last time.

And that V, and the others, were back safely had to mean:

They beat that demon. That threat and danger was gone. Were they… completely safe now? The thought was hard to grasp. After knowing how many people have died in these waters and seeing how badly wounded V was, it was difficult to comprehend that their return meant it was over.

You were already half leaning down to welcome V back, to hug him, to kiss him, to simply look at him, you didn’t know, you were just so glad to know he was safe, but V had other plans. The merman braced himself on the edge of the boat and pushed himself up. His arms trembled, it was hard to miss and impossible to ignore and your eyes widened a bit, a tinge of worry instantly clawing at the incredible sense of joy and relief you felt.

You arms went to his shoulders and you pulled him onto your boat. He basically fell into it, your body was the only thing stopping him from literally falling.

“Are you alright?” you asked him as he adjusted his position next to you. His body wasn’t shaking now, so you assumed it was just the strain from pushing himself up on them, but it still worried you. V looked at you. There was something about his features that made you think he was tired but the glance in his eyes covered it all up. He nodded and made that clicking sound you came to know as a positive reply and slid his wet hair back. Only the sounds of the other two mermen saying something in front of the boat kept you from staring for too long. This damn gesture…

“Mission accomplished,” Dante said. Despite them simply being here already meant they were successful, hearing the confirmation brought another wave of awe and relief to wash over you. Griffon’s chirps appeared in the air and the bird landed on V’s tail as the merman let it dangle in the water while he sat next to you. They talked for a few moments. V probably filled him in on what happened since Griffon couldn’t go with him. Shadow barked and raised one flipper out of the water. It looked like it was laughing while it waved at Griffon who puffed out his feathers but raised one of his wings as if to wave back.

“I guess it’s time we get back on our way then. If we hurry we can make it before nighttime,” Dante said and you looked at the two mermen in surprise.

“You’re leaving already?” you asked. Dante rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well yeah, we were asked to kill that demon and we did. Not much more to do here now.”

You looked a bit disappointed, you couldn’t deny that. “Thought you might stay a bit longer so I could ask you a few things, you know?!” you explained honestly. Dante smiled.

“Looks to me like you’re handling the situation pretty well,” he nodded towards V next to you, “if you have questions later or whatnot just seek us out at our home. I might be convinced to give you some answers if you bring pizza. Or a strawberry sundae, wouldn’t say no to that either.” The merman rubbed his chin as you just stared at him in total bewilderment. Pizza was already crazy enough but now ice cream? Really?

“For now enjoy your demon king-free time and place. If you wanna visit us just head north, in a few hours you should see mainland again. Just stick west then, you come across a tiny bay after a while, pretty isolated, we live there.”

The directions weren’t difficult to memorize but it still surprised you that they lived so close to the mainland and apparently humans. But then again, they did tell you they grew up around humans and were only half mer creatures after all. But he was probably right. You probably would be too caught up with spending time with V for now that you wouldn’t get to ask Dante(and Vergil, though he didn’t seem as talkative) anything for a while anyway.

“So, tell me, did V give you anything or promise you anything for doing this?” it seemed a bit off that these two just came here and did this. Not impossible of course, maybe that’s how mer creatures were, but you still wanted to know.

“Nah, as I said, we know how important our mates are, if we have one,” he mumbled that last part through almost closed lips, “and really no one wants their lives restricted or destroyed because of some douchebag demon. Not even my brother over there,” he whispered and pointed with clawed and webbed fingers at the merman somewhere behind him. In fact Vergil had already put some distance between himself and you and was apparently waiting for Dante to join him.

“Make haste, Dante,” Vergil said after a while and Dante rolled his eyes, although a grin spread across his features, revealing his rows of sharp teeth.

“Alright. Guess I’m leaving then. Take care of yourself and just come over some time. V,” he said and looked at the merman next to you before Dante told him something in their usual language. V replied and Shadow barked, waving at the merman as he turned around and started to leave. You caught movements of a tail that looked much smoother and much paler in color compared to V and a fin that resembled in looks but also in movements that of a shark. You wondered if that was just a coincidence or if them resembling sharks had something to do with why they could take on such a threat. Despite being stronger than his looks led one to believe V couldn’t take on that demon by himself. They sadly had to experience that before…

… but now it was over.

So you could finally explore these waters without Nero being worried sick out of his mind, without having to be afraid that something might happen to V or-

A still slightly wet hand cupped your cheek to turn your head to meet V’s eyes. You heard a faint sound of something falling to the ground as V’s other hand rose up to cup your other cheek in his webbed hands, though you were far too surprised and mesmerized by the clear and open glance in them. You didn’t have a chance to say anything, to react at all because the merman leaned forwards quickly and the pretty green color of his eyes became blurry in front of your face.

When his lips crashed onto yours you felt any thought leaving your mind, it was as if the contact wiped away any sense of logic, of awareness of your surroundings and environment. All that was left was these full warm lips on yours, this incredible passion that you almost deemed impossible for a creature such as him. Your eyes slid shut on their own accord and a moan slipped past your lips and was swallowed by his moving against yours and you felt your body growing weak beneath his touch. Webbed fingers slid into your hair, grabbing a hold of it and you gasped as he tugged your head back, breaking the kiss in the process. 

You couldn’t explain what was going on. There was a heat taking over your body, shivers spreading through your body with the way V kissed you, looked at you and took a hold of your body. You just gasped quietly and allowed this haze to take over your mind, just allowed V to do as he pleased because you couldn’t remember if he had ever kissed you with such a desire and intensity and you were still so overwhelmed knowing that he was back, safe and sound, and that you wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore.

You just wanted to enjoy being with him. And in your already dazed mind you didn’t care that you were still on your little boat.

You sighed softly, eyes closed, as V’s supple lips caressed your jawline and slid lower, down the arch your neck formed when he pulled your head back until he reached your collarbones and a tongue peeked out from between those lips to taste the skin there- 

“Hey! Screw him somewhere else but not on my boat!”

The spell was broken immediately and you yelped in utter shock. If V’s hand hadn’t still been on your body you would’ve lost your balance and fallen ungracefully in the boat. V pulled back from you after your reaction and he hissed, sharp teeth bared, his spinal fin flaring up. His irritated reaction wasn’t directed at you but at the voice disturbing you. Your hands came up to his shoulders to steady yourself but also to calm him down. Your heart was racing and you could feel the blood rushing in your ears. This was embarrassing beyond belief.

You dared to look upwards to the ship which was still incredibly close by and met Nico’s laughing face. You felt your face heat up even more. V had turned and glared up at her, his fin was still sharp and flaring up, though his teeth hid behind his lips again. You groaned and leaned into him, effectively hiding your face from Nico in his shoulder blade. That distracted the merman enough to direct his attention back at you. He turned around again and studied your face, your red cheeks, your red ears, the way you kinda wanted to disappear behind him. He inched closer to you and webbed hands wrapped around your upper arms as he straightened his upper body in front of you, effectively hiding you from Nico’s gaze.

Was he… shielding you from her? 

The thought alone almost wiped the embarrassment completely away. You couldn’t describe how cute this display of protective behavior was. Sure, you weren’t scared or really wanted to avoid Nico but he didn’t know that. He just saw you hiding from her and wanted to make you feel more comfortable in your current position.

You chuckled softly, mostly to let out some of the delight that threatened to make your heart explode because of how adorable (and admittedly quite charming) this gesture was. You cupped his face in your hands and smiled at him. The color on your cheeks was still there but the smile on your face was one of happiness and V understood. His shoulders relaxed again and his expression softened. He pressed a peck to your lips but did not lean in to deepen the kiss nor to make another move. The moment was gone and Nico was kinda right, the boat was not the right place. Neither was this the right time because now that everything calmed down, especially V himself, the merman looked pretty tired. You had noticed that before already when his arms trembled while he was climbing onto the boat. Maybe it was time to call it a day. The sun was slowly setting by now anyway.

Tomorrow was a new day. And apparently it was the very first day where no one had to worry about the threats and danger that resided deep underneath the ocean’s surface.

V was not really objecting to getting some rest and luckily Griffon was still close by after you started to make out with the merman, so he could help by translating. He much rather wanted to have you join him if the gentle pull of your wrist was any indication after he went back into the water(but not before grabbing whatever he let fall out of his hand before, though you couldn’t see what it was). You wouldn’t mind that either, you truly wanted to know what it would be like falling asleep next to him, but there was no way for you to do that just yet. You kissed him goodnight and after exchanging a few smiles and waving gestures the merman turned around and vanished into the waters with Shadow. Griffon seemed to head towards the island.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You stretched your arms over your head and yawned, though the last bit of sleep left your mind and body when the early morning sun hit your face on the deck. You already had your bag with your stuff shouldered, ready to get into the boat and enjoy the day.

“Wait up, girl.” You heard Nico’s voice behind you. The woman looked a bit tired but she wore a grin on her face that simply spoke of happiness. You looked at her expectantly.

“Ya forgot this.”

Your eyes widened as you stared at the little vial in Nico’s hand. There was this already familiar liquid in it but it had a much brighter green hue to it this time. Your mouth opened and closed a couple of times before words managed to leave your lips.

“Is this…?”

“Lasts for an entire day and night, yep.” Nico grinned and you felt how your own features lightened up, how your eyes widened again, how your mouth stretched upwards. You literally threw yourself at the woman, hugging her as the excitement and overwhelming joy became too much to handle. Nico laughed.

“Don’t ya have a date with a mermaid?” She laughed after a moment. You giggled but took the vial from her. 

“Let’s get ya in the water,” Nico said and you two worked on lowering the boat from the ship.

“As tough guy says, come back immediately if something should be wrong.” Nico winked at you and you nodded. “On a serious note, though, don’t push it. Better put the timer on 23 hours just to be on the safe side,” she told you then. You knitted your brows for a moment but promised her that. This wasn’t something you would test your luck with, not now, not when you could just enjoy your time and work here. 

“Well then, have fun and ya know, enjoy.” Nico winked at you and you rolled your eyes at her although you smiled. You would enjoy this time but Nico was only referring to one thing alone and admittedly, while it did cross your mind, of course it did, it was not the first thing on your mind.

The anticipation and excitement was hard to contain and you suppressed the urge to just squeal and somehow get this out of your system. Instead there was a grin on your face, your hands trembled a bit as you navigated the boat around the island and your heart seemed to thump harder and louder the closer you got to your destination.

You found the merman, as expected at this time of day, sunbathing on a rock in the morning sun, with Griffon and Shadow resting on a rock close by. With his head resting on his hands, shiny white hair fell into his face and obscured his features from view, the tips of the spinous fin along his spine moved very faintly up and down while his tail swayed gently, barely noticeable, from one side to the other. His pale skin and the huge turquoise appendage seemed to glistened. The drops of water on his body sparkled and reflected the sun. Over and over again you were just so mesmerized by how beautiful he was. Not to mention what an absolutely endearing and amazing creature he was. How fascinated he was by you, how attentive and willing to learn and teach he was, how he comforted you, how protective he was of you, how he touched you...

You smiled as you realized just how important he had become to you in such a short span of time.

As on cue, you still assumed because of his instincts, V stirred and looked up, a sense of alert all over him right away. His eyes found yours immediately and the warmth that spread through your body when his body and expression softened and relaxed once more was impossible to put into words. You just sat in your boat and smiled at him, heart pumping hard and fast in your chest, warm shivers traveling through your body before V pushed himself off the rock and into the water. The splashing sounds caused Shadow and Griffon to wake up and the sea lion started to bark and wave happily when it saw you. You waved back with a grin, that creature was adorable.

V appeared in front of your boat, his head peeked out from the surface and he slid his wet hair back to look at you properly. You wondered if he knew how captivating that gesture was. V smirked when you leaned down to capture his lips with yours. It was a sweet kiss, but it still lingered until the warmth inside your chest almost made you sigh. V’s smirk did not fade after you broke the kiss and he looked down into the water. You couldn’t see what was going on but his arms moved slightly so you assumed he was doing something. You just waited, wonder in your eyes as you waited. Griffon landed on your boat and Shadow joined V meanwhile.

The merman made a clicking sound before he held one of his hands up to you. You blinked in surprise as you stared at the tooth he held up between his fingers. Your lips parted as your mind only slowly grasped the fact that he was making you a gift, again.

“For me?” you said quietly and pointed vaguely at yourself. V nodded and he smirked again as you carefully took the gift from him. It really was a tooth, pointy and not small either. Your eyes widened a bit when you looked at it. There was a small hole in the tooth, to you it looked kind of burned, it almost seemed like one of those key chains you could buy which mostly were fake teeth. You were so impressed and just kept staring that you almost missed how V looked at you, waiting for your reaction.

“This is amazing. Thank you so much!” you weren’t sure if he understood your first sentence but he did understand when you expressed your gratitude. You smiled as you quickly put the tooth into one of the containers in your bag to make sure you wouldn’t lose it. Maybe you could find a string on the boat later that would fit through the hole. Then you could make a necklace out of it for him.

“What tooth is this? It’s not yours,” you wanted to know as you studied the tooth in the container a bit more. You knew V’s teeth by now and none of them looked like this. Griffon chirped and translated your question. V smirked and made a clicking noise. Shadow barked before the creature opened its mouth. V held its chin with his fingers and pointed at the missing canine tooth. Well, it wasn’t missing, it seemed to grow again already but it was much, much smaller than the other three canines.

“Oh!” you exclaimed and Shadow barked again as V pulled his hand back. It didn’t seem to be worried about the missing tooth at all. You leaned a bit forwards and reached your hand out to the creature.

“Probably lost it while fighting that big demon, hu?! Such a strong creature you are!” you said as you patted its head. Shadow grinned and leaned into your hand, eagerly accepting your affections. V probably didn’t understand your words but he smirked as he watched the scene. He was way more subtle about his body language but he seemed just a happy as Shadow was to you.

“Ah, now! I have to show you something!” you exclaimed and when Griffon translated it V’s green eyes seemed to sparkle. The merman’s fin ears twitched while he watched you pulling something out of your bag, expression full of curiosity.

You pulled out the vial and showed it to him. He remembered it because his eyes lit up and he went a bit back in excitement as if to leave space for you to join him in the water right away. You smiled.

“This lasts an entire day and night. So, if you want to I can stay the night as well.” You looked at Griffon to please translate it for you and then you stared at V with a racing heart as you waited for his reaction.

The merman’s eyes widened and his lips parted before a glance crossed his eyes and he almost seemed to beam with excitement and joy. He reached his webbed hands out towards you, a silent invitation to join him. You couldn’t believe how endearing that image was. Still, you held up your hands in a gesture to tell him to slow down a bit.

“You remember the signal?” you asked him. Griffon chirped and V nodded after a while. He pulled his hands back and after you didn’t say or do anything for a moment he tapped his wrist with his fingers. You nodded and smiled. You were really glad to know he was so attentive that he still remembered that gesture even if it has been days since you had to use it.

Your hands were slightly trembling as the sense of anticipation became too hard to ignore and you pulled your shirt over your head a bit more hastically than you may have intended, but you really couldn’t wait anymore. Aside from being able to explore the underwater world here for such a long time but you could spend equally as much time with V, bask in his company and just be with him again.

You gulped down the liquid once you were left in your bikini and V reached his hands out for you again but instead your excitement got the better of you and you just jumped out of the boat. When your head peeked out of the water again just a moment later and you slid your wet hair out of your face you just started laughing. V blinked at you, obviously surprised at your unexpected and unusual move but that smirk found its way back on his lips real fast. Webbed fingers came to cup your face and before you could even properly stop laughing his lips were on yours. You were still grinning when you wrapped your arms around his neck and reciprocated the kiss. Your eyes fell closed on their own accord as his full, supple lips moved against yours and webbed hands settled on your hips to pull you closer to him. 

You barely felt the pull, barely felt the water engulfing you but when you opened your eyes again and broke the kiss you were greeted with the beautiful sight of V’s form underwater. These dazzling green orbs staring into yours, these nearly glowing white strands of hair floating around his head, the shiny scales on his tail glistened like crystals in the water; he was so gorgeous above the surface but down here he was almost celestial.

V’s lips curved upwards as you almost gleamed with happiness at him. One of his webbed hands sought out yours and he held it tightly in his grasp before he pulled you along with him. You barely needed to move at all, you were basically just floating and gliding through the water with V leading and directing you towards wherever he wanted to go.


	16. What's To Come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You can finally spend an entire day and night with V in the ocean. And you have a very important talk with Nico about your future~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody,
> 
> We’re really here. The last chapter... or not(check the end notes 😉) It's hard to believe honestly, but time surely passed quickly. And... Oh my... I honestly don’t know what to say. Just, thank you all so very much! For your support, for your comments, for simply reading and for sticking with me and this fic! I never would’ve thought you guys would enjoy this fic so much and you have no idea how much all your support means to me! A huge thank you also goes to everyone who even drew fanart for this fic! Every single one of them still makes my day when I look at them and later in December I will print them to put them on my wall(it’ll be a Christmas gift for myself)! 💚
> 
> So thank you so, so much again! I hope you enjoy this last chapter! And remember to read the end notes too! 💚

V stopped swimming when he found these huge and weird anemones to which he introduced you last time you were here. The merman swam above one of them and simply lowered himself onto one until he was sitting in one of them leaned back and supporting himself on his forearms. You saw how some of these little tentacles latched themselves onto him while others just continued to move with the natural flow of the water. You wondered if he brought you here because he remembered your delighted reaction to them last time or because this truly was part of his daily life. You giggled at the scene of the merman just enjoying his skincare routine. And although he may not have been capable of hearing the sound he saw the movements of your chest and the look of laughter on your face. He made a clicking sound, the sound sounded surprisingly melodic in the water, and nodded towards another of these beings next to him.

You were much more hesitant and a bit clumsy in your movements as you tried to imitate him but eventually you managed to lower yourself into one of these anemones. The parts where these tentacles latched onto your skin tickled and you had to suppress the urge to pull back but after a while you couldn’t help but start feeling relaxed and you began to enjoy these unusual sensations.

You had no idea how long you stayed in there but after a while V pushed himself upwards and offered his hands to you. You took it and let yourself get pulled upwards. You granted yourself a moment, finally there was no need to rush for once, to admire how soft your skin felt now. Baffled you slid your hand over the smooth skin of your forearm. You had no idea what these things were doing but the effect they had on your skin was amazing. Webbed fingers appeared on your arms and you looked up with slightly parted lips (that there was no water invading your mouth was still incredibly strange) as V came closer to you. He cupped your hand in one of his and put his other hand below your elbow. He lifted your arm to press his lips against the smooth skin, a touch so gentle and soft that it raised goosebumps on your skin even in the warm water. If sounds could have left your lips you would’ve gasped, but the merman still noticed the shiver that made your body tremble in front of him. V smiled softly at you as he released your arm and hand before he nodded his head to signal you to follow him.

You spent the next hours just strolling through the ocean. V showed you around the whole island this time, took his time to show you plants and creatures you came across, made an effort to explain what beings and plants you should avoid or which you should definitely try out and be in contact with if you got the chance. He even directed you through a small system of tunnels beneath the island that led to a little lake in the middle of the island. The lake was tiny, more like a little pool but it was surrounded by trees, plants that covered the rocks from which a small waterfall emanated from. It was beautiful. It looked like a scene directly out of a movie. 

You stayed there for a while because you really needed a break at this point and also you got really hungry by now. You got out of the water and looked around for something you could eat while V hunted for some fish for himself. When you returned with fruits you were familiar with and could eat you noticed how Nightmare was resting close to the shore of the little lake. You assumed it has been here the whole time it had just now gotten closer since V was here now. The merman sat in the shallow water, his tail still completely engulfed by water and a fish in his hands. You ate in silence because you were mostly occupied with admiring this area and how gorgeous it was. And since the crocodile creature was here as well you assumed this was a place was safe enough so you could inspect it closer by yourself later as well. Maybe this could be a place for you and V to hang out whenever you couldn’t dive with him. But really, you would have to thank V later for showing you this place.

When you finished eating and the sun very slowly began to descend you both went back into the water, with Nightmare staying behind and resting more. V reached for your hand again, a firm grip around your fingers before the merman pulled you with him once more. This time he didn’t stop anywhere in particular. He swam through the corals, through the huge algae and kelp in a higher speed than you were used by him, so this time all you could do was literally hold on. You wondered why he seemingly was a bit in a rush now but you didn’t really have a chance to question him anyway. When you did finally stop you realized you were in front of the little cave he showed you the first time you were down here; his home as it seemed. 

V bridged the gap between you with the hint of a smirk on his lips. Though when he was right in front of you again, his tail occasionally brushing against your legs with its gentle movements in the water, there was a glance in his eyes that you couldn’t explain but which made your breath hitch in your throat nonetheless. His webbed hands came up to cradle your face again but he just held you. He simply held you and looked at you, his green eyes staring into yours. You didn’t dare to say anything, you were barely capable of forming a coherent thought as the intensity in his eyes caused your heart to skip a beat. 

V’s eyes switched between your eyes and lips as you parted them when you found it difficult to breathe under his gaze and the darkening shimmer in those gorgeous orbs made a shiver run down your spine. Something shifted. Around you and between you two but the longing to reach out to pull yourself closer to the merman became incredibly overwhelming.

You didn’t get the chance.

V’s gaze went lower until it was locked on your legs and for a long moment he just stared at them and how they slightly moved back and forth, every now and then brushing is tail. He seemed to be lost in thought but then he looked up again and his lips were on yours. There was something about that kiss, something about the way he moved his lips, how his tongue peeked out from between those supple lips to have a teasing taste of yours. The kiss ended way too soon and you chased his lips with yours as he broke the kiss but you were only met with water and the smirk on his lips. His hands left your face slowly before he sank lower in the water until his face was on the same level as your feet.

And then his webbed hand cupped your calf and pulled it to his mouth. Your body shivered as his lips settled on your skin and traveled up your legs. He caressed your legs just like he did when he was still on the ship, it seemed as if he admired, almost worshipped them. He slid his parted lips so slowly, so gently over your skin that the unexpected but incredible tenderness almost made your eyes tear up. You sighed, a sound that disappeared in the ocean around you, and closed your eyes as he caressed your legs with his lips and hands and allowed yourself to just feel and get lost in these warm and pleasant sensations.

V very slowly went higher on your legs and when he reached your thighs the caresses turned into small nibbles. Not any less gentle, he still was incredibly tender in his touches and kisses but there now seemed to be more of an intention behind them. And you couldn’t deny the effect his unusual gentleness had on your mind and body. You trembled in front of him, your heavy breathing was only noticeable by your heaving chest as you simply basked in V’s affections and caresses.

The kiss on your hips, right above the waistline of your bikini, pulled a surprised gasp from your lips and you looked down at the merman who was looking up at you with parted lips and a look in his eyes that caused a tingling feeling deep inside your core. His lips slid slightly more upwards and he pressed soft, tender pecks to your belly and stomach area with his hands gently holding onto your hips to keep you in place. The fleeting touches made you tremble again.

Maybe it had something to do with how he treated your body until now, maybe it was his position right now, but you wanted more of these caresses, more of these loving touches. You wanted to drown in them with him holding you close to his body, where nothing else mattered, just you and him and how you made each other feel.

There was a small smile on his lips, not a smirk, just a small upwards curve that was a silent sign of happiness and a quiet promise of more to come and it caused a shudder to run through your body. His hands reached up and his webbed fingers hooked underneath your bikini. He slid the material carefully down your legs, you appreciated it so much that he didn’t ruin it, before he swam higher until he was on your eye-level again, the fabric still in hand. There was a question on his features and a single finger poked at the clothing covering your chest. There was a warmth erupting in your chest since he had no idea how to take that off your body and you smiled as you pulled that part of the bikini off. He held his hand out for it and with a bit of hesitation you gave it to him, although you didn’t know what he intended to do with it. V grabbed your bikini and turned around. You didn’t have a chance to react, you were much more crying out internally how much you already missed his skin on yours, as he vanished into his cave. Only to emerge from it only a moment later, without your bikini. 

You smiled at him as he got close again and you couldn’t help but press your lips against his when he was within reach. You were too overwhelmed, too moved by how much he took care of you and your belongings, you never expected it and you certainly didn’t demand it, but experiencing it was too overwhelming to ignore. You tried to convey all of it with the kiss, moving your lips against his, your hands cradling his face, your thumbs stroking his cheek. By the time you broke the kiss your heart threatened to burst out of your chest and your body was screaming out for more. More of this, more of him, simply more.

V’s lips curved upwards again and he sank lower again to resume his former position. You shivered in anticipation for whatever he wanted to do next. You felt his hands on your legs, his gaze fixated on your body and you shivered, a sensation he could see and feel even with the moving water around you.

There was a long moment of pause as if he contemplated what to do next but before you could look down to see for yourself there was a firm pressure between your legs and one of your hands flew up to your mouth even though the moan that escaped your lips was swallowed by the ocean. The pressure faded an instant later and you whimpered with your lips tightly pressed together, already missing the sudden contact. 

You could barely attempt to look down before the pressure returned and you gasped. The back of your hand flew up to your mouth to suppress the noises albeit they weren’t audible in the water and your body shuddered. You almost felt embarrassed by how your body reacted but neither could you help it nor did you really care. V pressed his lips between your legs, he barely moved just applied pressure and oh so slightly parted his lips. It felt incredible and yet it was nothing more than a teasing touch, it created a pressure in your lower body, it ignited your nerves from the inside out but it did not built up the tension. 

A tongue sneaked out from between full lips to feel, to taste your folds and you held both your hands in front of your mouth as you had no idea what to do with them. You were floating in the open waters, held in place by V’s hands around your thighs, his lips and tongue working between your legs and he probably had no idea how he made you feel, how much he made your heart and body scream out for more.

His licks and touches were experimental, he was tasting and trying but it made you think back to that one time on the beach… He only figured out how much you enjoyed his fingers between your legs there, so maybe… maybe he just connected the dots and figured you might enjoy his lips too. His touches certainly felt like it and that he was careful and mindful enough to keep his teeth hidden behind his lips was not only appreciated it made you relax and allow yourself to just enjoy. He sent waves of heat through your body with every kiss, kept the pressure in your lower body steady with every lick and just made your heart race with the thought of how he cared for and treated you and your body.

You arched your neck and your hands dived into his flowing strands of hair when he found your clit. You could feel him smirk against your folds with how close his lips were pressed against you and you wondered if the sounds you made weren’t as lost to him in the ocean as you thought. You trembled, your eyes squeezed shut as he focused his attention on the little nub for a little while before switching back to kissing and licking your folds. It was torture. These deliberate, yet teasing and still experimental ministrations that just built and built the tension but did nothing to make the coil snap. You didn’t anticipate to be at this point so quickly but his gentle caresses had affected you more than you would’ve anticipated or wanted to admit. 

When you couldn’t stand it anymore, when your body was desperately crying out for more and you thought you might actually lose your mind you pulled slightly at his hair. V followed the tug and you felt a shiver running through your body at the glance in his eyes. There was a desire, a longing for you burning in these green orbs that took your breath away. Your hands curled around his neck and you pulled him close to you instantly.

The kiss was searing, just a heated and passionate entanglement of lips and tongues, his sharp teeth now a constant threat to your sensitive lips and tongue and yet it did nothing but thrill your already dazed mind. V’s webbed hands settled on your hips, his fingers dug into your skin and you moaned deep in your throat when his erection slid along your hips with the slight movements of his tail.

You gasped when you broke the kiss and V did not waste any time to lower his head. His supple lips were on the skin of your neck within an instant. He kissed and licked the skin, slid his parted lips along your neck and shoulder and pulled a tiny moan from out of you whenever he pulled some of the soft skin between his lips to suck on it. 

Your hands came up to his shoulders as you tilted your head to the side to give him more access to your skin. You heard his growl deep within his chest and the sharp inhale that escaped your lips, when he pulled you closer until there was really no space left between you two, turned into a breathless moan. V’s lips traveled over your skin, renewing the path of red and purple marks along your neck and shoulders and left you trembling and gasping every time he pulled the thin skin between his lips. You shivered when his sharp teeth made contact with your skin, a constant threat to your soft skin the longer his teeth lingered on your body but you hardly found it in you to care, if anything it seemed to ignite your nerves and body even more.

You reached out for him. You let your trembling hands slide over his skin, traced the faint lines on his skin, followed the contours of his muscles and you reveled in the way he shuddered and instinctively pressed himself closer against you, a needy groan left his lips, still attached onto your skin. Your mind became foggy the longer his mouth lingered on your body, the longer his erection was pressing and sliding against you - hot and waiting for you - the longer your hands caressed his body. Everything in you screamed out for him, you felt the pressure in your body growing, a coil that seemingly was pulled taunt since he started touching you.

Your hands slid up over his shoulders, purposefully brushing his gills on his neck and the moan that spilled from V’s lips was loud and sensual, a sound that was capable of pushing you towards the edge by itself. It was everything your heart and body needed to hear to lose the rest of your patience and composure. You pulled his face up to meet your eyes and crashed your lips against his. It was hot and fierce, all your desire, passion and desperation put into this one kiss as you devoured his lips and tongue with yours. You pulled your legs up and wrapped them around his waist, a move that was so easy in the water, and you moaned out of pure relief when his cock slid along your folds.

You broke the kiss and the look in his eyes almost made you whimper and push your hips forward. That darkened gaze, this sparkle of such intense desire which you could hardly bear... You rolled your hips and V’s lips parted at the friction but he either got the hint or he couldn’t wait any longer either. Your mouth opened to a silent moan as he pushed his tail slowly forwards and you felt his cock sliding into you.

Finally.

Your legs quivered around his hips and you desperately held onto him as he stretched and filled you up, every little ridge of his cock sliding along your walls until you felt his hips flush against yours and you threw your head back at this blinding pleasure. Your mind was completely blank when he started to move, when he moved his hips, when his fingers dug into your skin, when little groans spilled over his lips and yet you still noticed that something was different.

You were floating. You were in the open water, weightless. There simply was no connection to any surface, you were just floating, clinging to him and just being able to fully feel and savor every wave of pleasure, every shiver, every thrust, every touch, every kiss. There was nothing else. Just you and him, floating in the endless depths of the ocean and sharing the most intimate feelings and sensations. It almost brought tears to your eyes.

V’s thrusts and movements were much smoother, much more controlled, maybe because he was more gentle today than before, maybe because you were in the open water with him but you had no chance to think further about this. His pace picked slightly up, he rolled his hips against you a bit harder and you whimpered as the scales of his tail came into contact with your sensitive clit. The merman’s lips found your neck again but instead of kissing your skin he just buried his face in the crook of your neck, groans and sighs of pleasure reached your ears as he wrapped his arms around you to keep you as close as possible, and it almost made you find your end right there.

Your moan turned into a strangled whimper and you just held onto him as he rolled his hips against you, as he pulled his tail back to thrust into you causing his scales to rub your clit and your body trembled as you steadily approached that incredible feeling of bliss and pleasure. You held him close, tangled your fingers in his floating strands of hair, crossed your ankles right below his spinal fin to pull him even closer and just focused on him and this mindblowing pleasure. Blinding waves of heat surged through your body with every thrust, with every undulation of his tail, with every slide of his scales along your clit and you moaned his name, somewhere in the back of your foggy hoping that he could hear your voice, that he was aware what he was doing to you, how much it meant to you to be locked and joined in this intimate embrace, that you-

You choked on a moan as everything just became too much and this intense pleasure suddenly but finally made that coil snap. The waves of pleasure were overwhelming, they whitened out your vision and made you clench and spasm around him and you had no chance but to hang on. You could only ride through your climax and these incredible waves of heat, relief and bliss. It was so intense and so beautiful and seemingly lasted forever.

In your dazed and foggy mind, your body still quivering and spasming in V’s arms you were barely able to register how his thrust became erratic, how he lost his rhythm, how his hold on your body became almost bruising, how he shuddered against you, how he moaned into your ear before he stilled completely.

You were both just lost in the waves of these intense sensations which your climaxes brought over you and you rode them out together, wrapped around each other. Nothing else mattered but the two of you. After you both slowly came down from these highs, you leaned slightly back in his arms, your hands slid from where your fingers dug into his back to his shoulders but you still had your eyes closed, you still tried to calm your racing heart. Until you felt V pulling his head back from the crook of your neck.

The merman looked so exhausted now. There was such a tired but joyful and most of all satisfied glance in his green eyes that you couldn’t help but smile at him. You probably didn’t look much different. Still, you couldn’t deny how utterly spent but happy you felt. That high only slowly faded, but the warmth lingered. The next time your lips met it was way calmer than before, just your lips moving against each other’s, unhurried and softly. You let your eyes slide shut again and didn’t even open them when you felt V slowly moving the two of you through the open water. Only when he broke the kiss did you open your eyes.

He brought you to his cave. You could feel the soft surface beneath your knees as you carefully sat down. It was still so incredible to you how comfortable and nice it felt to be in here. With all the seaweed, grass and leaves covering the rocky surface of the cave. Your eyes widened a bit when you spotted your bikini in the cave, weighted with some stones so that it wouldn’t drift away. The thought that V was this considerate brought a smile to your face. 

It was also only then that you noticed how significantly darker it has gotten since you arrived here. It wasn’t dark enough that you couldn’t see properly but that the light has gotten so much less was astonishing. V appeared before you, a very small smile on his lips. He made a few gestures with his hands which you weren’t so sure about but he seemed to leave the cave. However, when you made an attempt to leave as well his webbed hands on your shoulders stopped you. He smiled and he repeated the same gestures again. Your mouth formed an “oh” shape when the message dawned on you and you nodded. V smirked and left the cave. You looked after him as he disappeared between the huge kelp but you stayed behind since this was apparently what he wanted.

You couldn’t really say how much time passed but when V returned it has gotten so dark that you barely saw him before he was right in front of you. He had that smirk on his lips again, though as content as his expression was he seemed incredibly tired. Not that you could say you weren’t. It has been such a long day, you’ve done so much and not to mention how utterly satisfying but tiring your earlier activities were. You couldn’t wait to get some sleep either. However, the thought of staying down here overnight, with him in this cave, was as thrilling as it was strange. You never thought you could ever do this, but you were excited how it would be.

You only saw then that the merman had his arm loaded with berries… and fruits? There were some objects in his hands that looked like a mixture between apples and pears but V put them in the back of the cave where it has gotten so dark that you couldn’t see anything anymore by now. When V turned around again to you he settled on the ground of the cave. He laid down on his stomach and invited you to do the same. You could hardly believe how dark it’s gotten by now. You could barely see his face anymore. It was a bit nerve-wracking. You knew once the sun has gone down completely it would probably be pitch black down here and you didn’t know how to feel about it yet.

You mimicked his position and laid down on your stomach, folding your arms so your head could rest on them. The ground felt incredible. It was so amazingly soft and comfortable, you couldn’t imagine how much and how hard he worked to achieve that. Especially since the walls of the cave looked the same. This entire place was just a huge natural pillow fort.

You tried to fall asleep like this but your mind couldn’t really calm down enough. And you kinda missed your blanket. You weren’t cold but just the feeling of huddling up in a blanket was something that you missed. And when you opened your eyes again after a while your heart skipped a beat, though this time not out of excitement. It truly was completely dark now. You could barely make out V directly next to you. It made you a bit nervous admittedly.

Maybe it was because of the nervousness, maybe because you missed a blanket, maybe you just wanted to be close to him, but you carefully inched closer to the merman in the dark. He reacted slowly. Either because he was already asleep or he wasn’t sure what you were doing. You snuggled quietly up into his side until he hesitantly raised his arm, so you could cuddle up to his side. You chuckled, and raised your own hand to search blindly for his arm that was kinda hanging in the air, unsure of what to do with it now. You pulled it around your body and you smiled against his skin when he caught the hint. His webbed hand wrapped around your upper body and pulled you closer to him, in the process he turned a bit more onto his side until you were more pressed against his chest than his side, and you sighed contently when you heard his soft heartbeat underneath your ear. You closed your eyes again, your heart and mind slowly relaxing again with his arm around you and his body close to yours, until you both fell into a peaceful and comfortable sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You could already feel your sore muscles as soon as you took the first step on the ship again. After swimming for so long it felt really weird to actually walk again. And even though you would probably suffer from sore muscles for the upcoming days you already wanted to go back again.

You had woken up to V nuzzling and kissing your skin and when you had opened your eyes to burning green orbs the sleep was wiped from your mind almost right away. If not that intense look, then it has definitely been the fire his kisses and touches left behind on your skin. As comfortable as the surface of the cave was you never would’ve thought it could actually replace a mattress, to an extent. But this morning was probably the closest to having sex on a bed you could experience with the merman. You had shared the berries and fruits he brought with him the night before for breakfast afterwards before your time slowly came to an end together and he had to bring you back to the surface. How quickly 24 hours could pass...

“I see ya enjoyed yourselves,” Nico said while she exaggeratedly rubbed her neck. You rolled your eyes at her, though the smile still appeared on your face.

“Time to catch up?” Nico asked then and you nodded. Some talking was probably in order. There was also another thought on your mind now that you were able to spend days and night together with V…

You told Nico about what happened the last day and night, though you left out the juicy details, stuff you figured out, stuff you definitely needed to explore and look into more. But you also told her about what these other two mermen, Dante and Vergil, explained to you, including the invitation to come visit them at some point. Nico was listening attentively, occasionally checking up on the stuff she was working on in the lab.

“So,” Nico said after you finished and you both took a minute to let it all sink in, “when’s the wedding?”

You laughed. “I doubt he knows what that is,” you said between laughter.

“I mean, ya are his mate. I guess that’s almost the same anyway.” Nico shrugged but the thought made your heart beat harder in your chest again. For mer creatures this probably really was the same. Sort of. The commitment of a mer creature to their mate was incredible and so far impossible to truly put into words or know the entire extent of. But you knew that V did all of this - leaving, searching for help, fighting that demon - for you. Dante confirmed this too. You couldn’t even describe or fathom what that meant to you.

All you knew at this point was that you didn’t want to leave again. You didn’t want to be separated from him. You already enjoyed spending time with him so much, it meant so much to you. And you couldn’t imagine what might be if he learned human speech, even just a bit, so you could properly talk to one another.

And all this was where the issue was.

This expedition was time-restricted. While you were here for another few weeks, there was a point in time when you would have to leave. And you didn’t want to. But you also had no solution to this yet.

“I don’t wanna leave,” you whispered. Nico was silent for a long moment before she sat down on her chair and looked at you.

“Then don’t.”

“Huh?” you looked at her. Nico’s expression was unusually serious, no doubt or even the hint of a joke inside her voice or on her face.

“Listen, if ya wanna stay with him, then we will find a way. I can provide ya with my little invention. With time I may be able to expand the time period or make more than just one of them each day, so that aspect wouldn’t be an issue.” She made a pause there and looked at her devices lost in thought. You stared at her with a racing heart. That feeling of hope and excitement erupted inside of you the moment the first sentence left her mouth.

“We could explore the island together, maybe take Nero with us, maybe there’s a chance for ya to build up a little something there.”

Immediately the place where you’ve been to yesterday, the tiny lake with the waterfall where Nightmare supposedly lived, came to your mind and you started to think and consider if there was a way for you to somehow stay there overnight or during the day, although you knew this wouldn’t be a long-term solution.

“Ya could stay on the mainland, visit those other two guys, they live with humans ya mentioned? If we can provide ya a bigger boat ya could even move to the mainland and come here everyday and go back in the evening. Though with my genius work ya hardly needed to go back. Occasionally maybe to get more supplies.” Nico had a finger on her chin as she almost rambled, but everything she said made so much sense. There was a sense of excitement bubbling up inside of you, the thought that this might actually work and even after this expedition ended you could stay around here. That you wouldn’t actually have to leave V…

“I could still do my research. I could observe all these creatures even more than I can do it now.”

“And when ya have results or enough stuff ya can go to the mainland and, I don’t know, write a book or something.”

“Yes!”

“See? I get ya, these are probably the weirdest circumstances ever, but there is a way for everything. Just because ya husband is a mermaid doesn’t mean we can’t make this work. Ya just stay here live happily ever after and have a family with the guy.”

You almost didn’t hear the teasing tone in her voice by the last sentence, you were much too overwhelmed by everything she said and implied and by the prospect of maybe actually building something up here with V. You had your arms thrown around the woman before she could react and Nico laughed at your reaction. You were just suddenly way too emotional and you needed to express that somehow.

“Here’s ya daily dose, girl.” She smiled a the hug ended and handed you the vial. You took it eagerly.

“We need to see how it affects ya or if it does at all, so maybe taking a break once in a while wouldn’t be wrong. But for now,” she made a pause to grin broadly at you, “get back and enjoy ya time with him.”

“Thank you,” you smiled and clutched the vial in your hand.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

V spotted you as soon as you reached his usual sunbathing spot, though this time he wasn’t sunbathing as the sun was close to setting already. He sat on the rock, Griffon on his shoulders, talking to one another. The merman jumped into the water the moment he saw you (Griffon complained loudly at the sudden movement) and you smiled, happily and excitedly, as V approached you in the water.

You remembered back to how you doubted this. How you were even terrified by how you reacted to him, how you felt about him. It seemed so ridiculous by now because you couldn’t imagine anywhere you’d rather be.

Nico’s earlier words gave you hope and confidence that there was a way to make this work. Her words awakened a sense of ambition to work on this, to figure out a way to build a future with the merman so what you two had would not end once your expedition ended.

You didn’t know just how exactly you could do this. This would require more thought and work. But you knew you could do this.

And most of all you knew one thing for certain.

You wanted to stay. 

With him. 

And you wanted to see what the future held for the both of you.

And you wanted and would experience it.

Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any of you enjoys the concept of V and the reader with little mer!babies, then this may not be the final chapter after all. However, this will be just a variety of cute, sweet family moments rather than a sequel-like chapter. So, if that’s not your thing you are not missing out anything important either 💚 
> 
> For everyone who does enjoy this concept: I’ll keep you posted, but I’ll probably have it done in the middle of December. Depending on when exactly I may just post it on Christmas Eve, who knows~ 
> 
> Once more, thank you all so very much for all your love and support you've shown me! It means so much to me, you really have no idea 💚
> 
> Goodbye and hopefully see you soon! 💚


End file.
